Like Lightning
by lizziestar
Summary: Scout Barlow's life was rather boring and average. No adventure, no excitement, nothing. That all changed with a simple dropped pencil. Now Collin Main won't leave her alone. Things will never be the same again.
1. Another Ordinary Morning

**Hey guys. Okay, so this is 'Like Lightning', the story of Collin and Scout. It is all told in Scout's point of view. I'll try to update this story as much as I possibly can. This is the only note I'll be posting on this story. Oh, almost forgot my disclaimer. I do NOT own Twilight or any of its characters. I own this story and all of the characters that aren't in the original books. All right then, let's get this story started already!**

The first day of school is never a very good one. The first day of high school, on the other hand, is an absolute nightmare. I'd been dreading it the whole summer. Sure, I'd known all the kids at La Push High since I was practically in diapers. However, I'd changed and so had they. This was going to be a year of change.

The awful day began with my seven-year-old sister, Faith, jumping on my bed and shouting, "Get up Scout! First day of school!"

I let out a groan as the little bundle of energy jumped off my bed and ran down the hall to wake up everyone else in the house. I couldn't see why she was so excited. It was just school. It wasn't anything new or exciting. Story of my life.

I decided it was time to get up. I stretched, yawned, and forced myself out of the bed. I walked over to my door, shut it, and then locked it tight. I was lucky to have my own bedroom. See, my nineteen-year-old sister, Maycee, was away at college along with her twin, Spencer. I was glad to have privacy during the school year. In a big family, you don't normally get much alone time.

I rummaged through my closet and pulled out a light pink blouse and a pair of light wash jeans. Pleased with my outfit, I pulled it on and then went to the bathroom.

I sighed heavily when I saw my thirteen-year-old brother, Mathias, standing outside the door. Great. A line had already formed and it wasn't even seven yet.

I sighed. "Okay Mat, who's in there this time?" I asked, crossing my arms and tapping my foot.

My younger brother shrugged his shoulders. "I might tell you." he said, grinning slyly. "If I get five dollars." He stuck out his hand expectantly.

"Ooh, I have a better idea." I said, placing my hand on the back of his neck. "If you don't tell me, I'll give you a wedgie."

He cringed and struggled to get out of my grip. "Okay! It's Mallory!" he yelled. "Now let go!" I let go of the kid and he ran towards his room.

I sighed again and knocked on the door. "Mal!" I shouted at my ten-year-old sister. "Hurry up!"

"Alright, alright." she said on the other side of the door. "Don't have a cow Scout! I'm coming!"

I heard the lock click and then the door swung open. Mallory walked out and looked at me, annoyed. "Happy now?" she asked crossing her arms.

I smiled. "Thanks pipsqueak." I said, ruffling her hair.

"Hey." she yelped, backing away. "I just brushed that."

I laughed and stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I looked at myself in the streaked mirror.

I had long, jet black hair, dark skin, and brown eyes. Everyone did in La Push. See, it was a Quileute Indian Reservation near the wet town of Forks, Washington. I often wished I looked different, but there was nothing I could do and there was no sense in complaining. I brushed the knots out of my hair, sighing as I did so, and then brushed my teeth.

"Breakfast!" my mom shouted as I left the bathroom and made my way into the kitchen.

"I'll just have a pop-tart Mom." I said, sitting down next to mat as Faith climbed into the seat to my left.

She placed an empty blue plate in front of me. "You're having two pop-tarts and some bacon." she told me. "And I don't want to hear any arguing."

Mat sniggered and I jabbed him rather hard in the ribs with my elbow.

"Mom!" he whined. "Scout hit me!"

"Stop whining!" my dad shouted as he came in the house, the morning paper tucked under his arm.

"Morning dear." my mom said, setting my breakfast in front of me and kissing my dad on the cheek. Mat made a face at this and I chuckled.

"Morning Dad." I told him.

He turned to me with mock surprise. "Scout Barlow, when did you grow up so fast?"

I blushed, which caused Mat to laugh more. Faith joined in, but I knew she didn't get what was so funny.

"Dad." I complained, sounding like a little kid. "Stop." I hated when he did stuff like that. It was embarrassing.

"But, you're starting high school today." He smirked and pulled out his camera. "Know what? This calls for a picture."

I buried my face in my hands. My parents did this to my siblings and me every single year. "Not a picture." I mumbled.

"Yes a picture." he teased. "Come on Scout. Let's see that beautiful smile sweetheart."

I sighed, defeated. If I didn't let him take the stupid picture, he'd never leave me alone. I stood up and smiled.

"That's my girl." he said, grinning. He put the camera to his face. "One, two, three." He snapped the picture and I sat back down and ate my breakfast as quickly as I could without getting choked.

When I finished, I stood up and took my plate to the sink. "Well, I gotta get to school."

"Let me drive you." my father offered.

I shook my head rapidly. No way. If I let him do that, I'd never live it down. I'd have to do major damage control. "I'm gonna walk with Harm." Harmony Locke was my best friend who just happened to live across the street.

My father simply nodded. "Be careful alright."

"Always am." I said, kissing him on the cheek. I then walked towards the front hallway, threw on my light blue jacket with silver squiggles, and picked up my lime green backpack.

"See you!" I shouted, placing my hand on the doorknob.

"Scout, don't forget that after school you and Harmony are watching Faith and Danny while your dad's at work and I'm at the doctor's with Mat and Mal." my mother shouted before I managed to get away.

I had promised last week that Harm and I would baby-sit my two-year-old brother. Faith had heard about this and begged to stay behind too.

"Okay!" I shouted, opening the door and walking outside before anyone could say anything else to me.

It was drizzling as I walked over to Harm's house. The rain didn't bother me too much though. It rained all of the time. I was used to it. Sunny days were very rare.

I sighed and knocked on Harm's door. She opened it and smiled. "Hey Scout. Hold up." She stuck her head back in the house. "Yo, Karen! Scout's here! I won't be home 'til late! I'm babysitting!"

Karen was Harmony's aunt. Her mother died in childbirth and, according to Harm, her dad was a dead beat living in California with his girlfriend. She hated her father and wanted nothing to do with him.

"Kay!" Karen shouted back. She loved me and often called me her second adopted daughter. "You kids have fun!"

Harm shook her head and closed the door. "So, did your parents give you the whole 'You're growing up so fast' spiel?" she asked as we walked up the road.

"Of course." I told her. "What kind of self respecting parents would they be if they didn't?" I asked. "Geez Harm. What were you thinking?"

We laughed and then she asked, "What about pictures? Did your dad make you pose again?"

I groaned and she laughed. "That's why I'm glad Karen isn't technology savvy. She wouldn't even bother to try if I wanted her to." she told me. "Which I don't." she said hurriedly.

"Wanna trade lives?" I asked her, giggling. I often asked her this whenever my family did something embarrassing. So, I asked her this a lot. At least once a week.

"Come on." she said. "You're parents aren't that bad. Your dad's jokes are a little corny and your mom worries a little too much, but they're cool. You should be glad you've got parents."

I sighed. Not this again. "So do you." I reminded her. "What about your dad?" I asked.

Harm snorted. "Oh yeah. Good ole Dad. Don't make me laugh Scout." She sighed. "You know, I never even get so much as a Christmas card. That's pure crap. How do you freaking forget Christmas?"

"Okay, okay." I said hurriedly. I didn't want to make her upset. "Point taken. Still, I wish my parents weren't so… involved. You know?"

She looked at me and shook her head. "No idea whatsoever."

I looked down and we walked along in complete silence. I guess we were both a little bit nervous. We weren't exactly the most popular people in the world. We mostly kept to ourselves. We like it that way.

Soon, La Push High came into view and I felt my breakfast churn in my stomach. I hoped I wasn't going to hurl. I'd be labeled 'Barf Girl' until I died. That was the last thing I needed.

"So, this is it." Harm said as we stopped at the big front doors. Kids were shoving past us to get inside.

I swallowed hard. "Uh huh. No big deal though. We can handle this." I hoped that Harm didn't notice my voice shake.

She nodded confidently. "We can totally handle this." She walked inside with her head held high and I followed behind her, not as confident.

We walked through a large crowd of kids and over to the large bulletin board in the front hall near the office. It had a list of all the freshmen homerooms.

It didn't take me long to locate my name under Miss Martin, the tenth grade English teacher. Harmony got Mr. Rowe, the ninth grade social studies teacher.

"I gotta go this way." I said glumly, pointing at the stairwell. I didn't know why I was so sad. We'd had classes without each other before. It wasn't anything new. So, why was I so scared that I'd never see her again?

Harmony sighed. "Maybe we'll have a class together or something." Her air of confidence had vanished. It made me feel better to know that my best friend was just as scared and nervous as I was. Somehow, that perked me up a little.

I nodded, feeling better. "Even if we don't, all the freshmen have the same lunch. We'll see each other then." This time, I was the one reassuring her. It felt kind a nice.

Harm just shrugged. I guess she didn't want to show how she was really feeling. She did that a lot. "See you later I guess."

"See you." I said, heading up the stairs. I turned to give a last look at harm, but she was already gone. I turned back around and continued to climb.

I had a feeling that this was going to be one of those days. Long, tiring, and confusing.

**Okay, I really hoped you enjoyed this first chapter. If you haven't, you should really read my other Twilight fic, 'Solar Flare'. It's about Seth Clearwater and his imprint, Erin Morgan. Scout is in that story too. Well, I hope you keep reading. Updating soon.**


	2. Torture

My morning wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that great either. It was so-so. It was an average, uneventful morning really. It was the kind of morning you expect to have on the first day back. Everyone pretends to be so happy and all the teachers act like they're thrilled to see you. By the second week, however, the bad moods set in and everyone quits pretending to be happy.

Okay, back to my morning. I went to my first block health class. It was a total snooze fest. Boring as all get out. And that was before we began learning anything. By that time, the class was falling into a tired stupor. One kid actually fell asleep and then fell out of his desk. He was then sent to the office and the rest of us learned that there would be no sleeping in class.

Second block was a whole lot better. It was science class. Normally, I don't like science too much, but I figured I would like this class. Harm was in there and we got to sit next to each other. We decided our teacher, Mr. Pillot, was very awesome and cool. So far, he was our favorite teacher ever.

Third block was split for second lunch. I had to suffer through an hour in social studies class, listening to Coach Levi drone on and on. I had to keep pinching myself so I wouldn't fall asleep. Soon though, we got out of class for a half hour for lunch break.

Lunch was good. Not the food. That part was gross. Harm and I sat at a random table with a bunch of random kids. We talked about our day. I was happy that Harm was having a boring time too. It made me feel better. Unfortunately, the fun was short lived and I had to go back to social studies for another agonizing half hour.

Then came the last class of the day, Geometry. Most of the other freshmen had to take two semesters of Algebra I. I, on the other hand, got one semester of Geometry. I was a genius when it came to math, a fact everyone liked to point out.

After I had a fight with my locker, I had to run to my class, through a sea of kids I might add, to make sure that I wasn't going to be late. Being late on the first day was never a very good sign.

I barely made it inside, out of breath, before the warning bell sounded shrilly. I looked around the classroom for a seat. I groaned in agony when I saw that the only seat left was busted. The plastic was cracked, there was no basket underneath for my books, and the bar on the right side was gone. However, it couldn't be in a better position. It was in the exact center of the class. I sighed as I put my books on the desktop and sat down just as the teacher walked in.

"Good afternoon class." Ms. Middleton said brightly. "Now, before I take roll, I would like to know what grade levels I have in here. So, who are my freshmen?" she asked.

I was the only one to raise a hand. I heard someone mutter, "Brainiac", and I slowly put my hand down, embarrassed. I did not like being made fun of, especially not for being smart. I'd had enough of that as a little kid.

"Okay, one freshman. Sophomores?" The majority of the class raised their hands. "Juniors?" Two kids in the back. "Okay, no seniors then."

Ms. Middleton walked over to her desk and grabbed some note cards. "Okay, today I will take roll with these. You need to write your name, address, parents' names, phone number, e-mail address, grade, and class schedule." She passed them out and waited for us to write down all of that information.

"Everyone finished?" she asked after about fifteen minutes. We all nodded. "Okay, pass them up." We all did so and she picked them up from the first person in each row and then placed them on her desk.

She rummaged around on her desk for a moment and then picked up a stack of papers and started passing them out. "Now, this is just a little review test on what you learned last year. It's just so I can get to know you all as students. There are twenty-five questions. You can start now." She walked over to her desk and sat down.

I sighed and wrote my name on the paper in front of me. I then looked over the contents of the test. It seemed easy enough. I began and, in no time at all, I was on the last question. I laid my pencil down for a moment to rest my hand and, of course, it rolled right of my desk.

I took in a frustrated breath and leaned over the right side of my desk to pick it up. However, someone else had leaned over to get it and our hands touched. I looked up and stared right into the eyes of Collin Main and, oddly, he stared back at me, transfixed.

I had known Collin for a very long time. When we were younger, he used to pick on me a lot. It didn't stop until I was almost eleven and Harm blew a fuse. She punched him in the face, giving him a black eye. He never bothered me again. In fact, this was the first time I'd seen him up close since then.

He stared at me for a second longer, smiled, and then handed me my pencil. He slowly sat upright and then went back to his test.

I shook my head and then sat back up too. That had been the weirdest thing in the whole world.

I sighed and regained my composure. It was no big deal. Just a dropped pencil. I quickly finished the last problem, turned over my test, and waited until Ms. Middleton collected them at the end of class.

"I'll grade these tonight." she told us just before the bell rang. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

I gathered my things and started walking out of the classroom. I couldn't wait to get home and rest for a little while before Harm came over and our babysitting job began.

"Hey, Scout! Wait up!" I heard someone shout to me as I made it out into the dangerous and crowded hallway.

I turned around to see Collin, several feet behind me, trying to catch up with me. I turned back around and walked faster. Then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. How had he managed to catch up with me that fast?

"Hey Scout." he said, his breathing even. He began walking alongside me. "Didn't you hear me calling for you?"

Of course I had heard him. Everyone in the hall had probably heard him. I sighed, cutting to the chase. "What do you want Collin?" I hoped he noticed the exasperation in my tone.

He smiled brightly, kind of like I just told him he had won the lottery or something like that. "You actually remember my name?" he asked incredulously.

Was he on drugs or something? It wouldn't surprise me in the least if he were. "How could I forget the person who tortured me for most of my childhood?" I asked, agitated. Why was he talking to me? What did he want?

His face fell. "Oh, right. Sorry about that. I was just a stupid little kid then. I feel awful about that now."

"What?" Was he apologizing? Why was he apologizing? What could he possibly want with me?

"Uh, I said I was sorry that I used to be such a jerk to you." he told me. Oh my holy cow. He was being serious. But why?

"Oh." I said, feeling a little bad. "Well, what do you want anyways?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I was wondering if we could maybe do something together sometime. Maybe now if you're not busy or anything."

We had made it to my locker. I opened it, shoved all of my books on the shelf, and grabbed my backpack. I was purposely avoiding answering him. Maybe if I didn't say anything he'd go away. I turned back around. No such luck.

"Well, I'm babysitting actually." I told him, glad that I didn't have to make up an excuse. For once, I was glad that I was not an only child.

"Cool." he said, smiling. "Well, some other time then?"

"Uh, maybe." I said, not really meaning it at all. He was really starting to freak me out.

"Awesome." he said. He stared at me for a minute and then said, "Gotta go I guess. Tell me how that babysitting goes tomorrow." He then walked away slowly. It was almost as if he didn't want to go.

I turned around again and stared into my locker, dumbfounded. What had that been about? Why would Collin Main want to hang out with me of all people? He had to have some kind of motive.

I felt another tap on my shoulder. Great. What else could he possibly want? I whipped around, coming face to face with Harm.

"Oh, thank goodness. It's only you." I said, breathing a sigh of relief. I slammed my crappy locker door shut and we began walking down the hall.

"So, I saw you talking to Collin Main." she said when we made it outside. She had been really quiet up until this point, which was unlike her. Normally she'd be complaining about something or other. I had just been about to say something to her.

"Yeah, he was bugging the crap out of me." I told her, not giving out details of the way he had been looking at me and other things. "He's in my fourth block Geometry class."

"That's a relief." she told me. "I thought maybe you two were friends now or something."

I stuck my tongue out. "No way. I hate that jerk."

She laughed. "Good." She then frowned. "So, what was he talking to about? He wasn't teasing you again was he? We can report him for harassment now you know."

I rolled my eyes. "I wish he was bugging me." I sighed. "He wanted to hang out with me after school."

Harm put on her 'deep in thought' face. "Wonder why?"

I shrugged. "Probably just wanted to get on my good side so I'd help him out in Geometry or something like that." There. A rational explanation.

Harm nodded vigorously. "That's probably it. I mean, he's not exactly very bright is he?"

We both laughed hard and made fun of Collin until we got to Harm's house. Then we stood in the middle of the road for a few more minutes and made fun of him some more.

"Better get going." Harm said after we had calmed down some. "I can see Karen peeking through the living room curtains."

"See you in an hour." I told her, waving good bye as she walked into the house and left me alone outside.

As I walked across the street to my own house, my thoughts wandered back to Collin. My theory made perfect sense except for one thing. Why did he stare at me like I was the most interesting thing on the face of the planet?


	3. Unexpected Events

**Yes, I am back. Sorry this took so long. Homework and all that junk.**

Babysitting my siblings is anything but boring. You can never be really sure what's going to happen. What seems like a normal sitting job always turns into some kind of adventure. Nothing is ever planned. It just sort of happens spontaneously, especially if Faith happens to be around. This time was definitely no exception. I got more than one surprise that night.

It all started out simply enough. Harmony came over around four-thirty as planned. Mom gave us some instructions and left with mat and Mal. Harm and I did what little homework we had while Faith played in her room and then Danny was put down for his nap. However, I knew something was going to happen. It always did.

Sure enough, Faith trudged down the hall and whined, "Scout, I'm bored." Faith could be a real complainer and she was almost always bored. Well, unless she was causing mass chaos.

I closed my binder, looked to Harm, and we both sighed heavily. I knew we were thinking the exact same thing: What was going to happen this time? What was Faith going to drag us into?

There really wasn't much for a little seven year old to do cooped up in the house on a rainy Monday evening with a sleeping toddler down the hall.

Then, the worst thing imaginable happened. Faith's face lit up suddenly, causing me to mentally groan. That was never a good face. It usually meant she had an idea. A very big, very loud, very messy, and, sometimes, very painful idea.

"How about we make giant cookies?" she asked, grinning widely.

I analyzed the idea. It'd be quiet and Faith wouldn't complain. Any messes could be cleaned up with no problem. I was sure Mom wouldn't mind. Not to mention that I was definitely in the mood for something sweet.

"Sure." I nodded. "Sounds like an excellent idea to me."

Harmony agreed wholeheartedly. "Totally. After that school food, cookies sound just like heaven on Earth."

With that, we jumped off the couch and headed straight for the kitchen. I hoped we would have everything we needed.

After ten minutes of rummaging through the kitchen, we found everything we needed and some stuff that we didn't.

"No, Faith." I said as she held up a rather large jar of maraschino cherries that she had found in the back of the fridge.

"Oh come on." she whined. "Why can't we put bits of cherry in the cookies? I bet it'd taste really good. Why can't we?"

"I'll give you two good reasons, kid." Harm said, taking the jar away from my sister. "It's too messy and I'm allergic."

Faith screwed her face up and pretended to pout a little bit, but didn't complain any further.

Half an hour later, the kitchen was a complete mess, we were a complete mess, and the cookies were baking in the warm oven, their scent already wafting through the kitchen.

I sighed and picked up the nearest dish towel. "Now, for the hard part."

Faith and Harm made faces. "Why do we have to clean?" my sister asked. "Why can't we just leave it like this?"

I looked over at the clock on the microwave. "Because Mom will be back in an hour and a half."

Harm frowned. "I thought she was just taking Mat and Mal to the doctor's office and then coming back here."

I nodded and began wiping off the counter. "She decided to pick up some pizza for dinner though."

"Think she'd mind if I grabbed a couple of slices when I head out?" she asked, grabbing a dish towel and joining me in cleaning.

I shook my head. "No, I'm sure she'd be cool with that. You know she loves you."

Harm grinned. "Who doesn't?"

"Well, looks like you two have a handle on this." Faith said, backing away slowly. "You don't need me."

"Not so fast." I said, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. "Things will go a lot faster if you help. Then we might have time to watch some TV."

That got Faith's attention. She helped us clean the entire kitchen. It only took fifteen minutes since we were all motivated. Soon we had crashed on the couch and were flipping through channels, looking for something to watch.

"Hey," Harm said. "The second Harry Potter movie's on. It's half way over, but maybe we could watch it anyway."

"We should watch it." I agreed. "It's a good movie and nothing else is on. Besides, it's one of my favorites."

Faith nodded, wanting to be like her big sister. "Yeah. Let's watch it. It's really awesome."

So, Harm flipped the channel and we watched the movie. We were right at the part where Hermione's been Petrified. It wasn't one of my favorite scenes, but it wasn't a bad place to begin a movie.

A while later, just as Harry, Ron, and Lockhart went down into the Chamber, the phone rang and Danny began crying.

"I'll get the phone." I announced, getting up. "Harm, take care of Danny. Faith, just sit here."

"On it." Harm said and Faith saluted. Harm got up and headed to my baby brother's room.

I walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone. "Hello?" I asked casually. I noticed the cookies were done, so I took those out of the oven and placed them on the counter to cool down. They looked so good.

"Hey Scout. It's me." Collin Main. I turned off the oven and wondered why I had the worst luck in the world.

"Collin? Why are you calling?" I then thought of a better question to ask. "Wait. How'd you get my number?"

"Uh… the phone book." he replied with a chuckle. "You're the only Barlow listed in there."

I sighed. Of course. The phone book. How silly of me. "Oh. So, why are you calling?"

"I just wanted to see how you were." he said. I couldn't imagine why he would want to check on my well being. "Just wondered if you'd like to do something sometime this week."

Okay. Something was up. I was positive. "Why?" I asked.

There was a second of silence. Then Collin said, "Because I want to be your friend."

Oh yeah. Likely story. I wondered what the jerk really wanted. "Uh… I'm probably going to be busy all week. Babysitting and homework." I told him. I then hastily added, "This weekend too."

"Oh." I thought he sounded disappointed. It was probably just an act. "Maybe we could talk at school. Or maybe I could call sometime."

I needed to lie my way out of this. "Uh… I don't know about school. As for calling, my dad doesn't like me being on the phone too much."

"You got an e-mail?"

Did he ever give up? "No." I replied automatically. "Sorry." I wasn't.

"Oh." he sounded even more disappointed. "Well, I guess I'll see you in Geometry tomorrow."

I actually had plans to sit far away from him for the rest of the year. However, I simply said, "Yeah. Sure Collin. I'll see you in class tomorrow. Bye." I hung up before he could say anything.

Confused and a little mad, I walked into the living room. Harm was back on the couch and the credits were rolling. Great. I'd missed the movie.

"Who was that?" Harm asked as I sat down next to her.

I rolled my eyes. "Collin Main." We both groaned loudly, disgusted.

"You mean Seth Clearwater's friend?" Faith asked, turning off the TV.

I had forgotten that Collin hung around Seth and Jacob Black. Seth was a really kind, sweet guy and Jacob was sort of funny and nice, but obnoxious. Personally, I didn't see how they could stand to be around him.

"Yes, Faith." I told her. "That's exactly who I mean."

"What'd he want?" Harm asked curiously.

I pretended to gag. "Wanted to hang out with me. When I told him I'd be busy all week, he asked if he could call. When I told him no, he asked if he could e-mail me. He was just not giving up."

Faith looked at me, confused. "Why'd you lie?"

"Uh… because… well… he isn't very nice to me, Faith." I explained.

"But he wants to hang out with you." she said, still clearly confused. "That doesn't seem bad."

I sighed heavily. "Never mind, Faith. It's just teenager junk."

"But-" Faith was cut off by the sound of the door opening.

"We're home!" I heard my mom shout. "Dad's here too!"

This caused Danny to cry and Harm to groan. "I'll bring him in here." she said, standing up and heading to Danny's room again.

"How was the doctor?!" I shouted. "They figure out what happened to Mat's brain?"

"Hey!" I heard him shout. "That's not funny!"

"Scout, stop teasing your brother." Mom said, appearing in the living room. She looked at Faith and me, frowning. "Where's Harm?" she asked.

"Danny and Mat's room." I told her. "You woke him up."

"Pizza's here!" I heard my father shout as the door closed behind him.

Mal walked into the living room and sat down in a chair. "Shots?" she asked to no one in particular. I saw a band-aid on her arm. "Why? What did I need shots for?" That was my overly dramatic sister for you. I blamed the theatre classes she took.

Mat came in, laughing. "I didn't need shots." he announced. "I just have to get my eyes checked."

"More like your head checked." Mallory muttered under her breath.

"Hey now!" my dad said as he came into the living room. "Everyone behave." He turned to me and frowned. 'Where's Harmony?" he asked.

"Coming!" she yelled from Danny and Mat's room. Seconds later, she appeared, carrying my very sleepy two year old brother.

"I'll take him." Mom said, stretching out her arms.

Harm handed Danny over and he snuggled up to Mom. "Mommy." he mumbled, resting his head on her shoulder.

My dad dug into his pocket and pulled out ten bucks, which he handed to harm. "There you go. You wanna stay for dinner?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Can't. But could I take a couple of slices of pizza?"

Mom nodded. "Of course. And tell Karen that I said hello."

"Of course I will." she said as she hugged everyone good-bye, grabbed some pizza, and headed out the door.

It was now just my family and me. We all headed into the kitchen, sat at the table, and began to eat our dinner.

"So, how was school?" Dad asked everyone.

"Fine." we all chorused. Even if it hadn't been fine, we would've said it was anyway.

Dad then turned to Faith and me. "Anything interesting happen today?"

I shrugged, pulling off the pepperoni. I liked to eat that last for some reason. "We watched some Harry Potter. No big deal."

Faith grinned. 'We made giant cookies too!" she announced happily.

Mom smiled, sitting Danny in his high chair. "I saw that. They look delicious. Anything else?"

"Collin Main called to ask Scout to hang out with him." Faith exclaimed. "But she said no."

Dad raised his eyebrows. "Really? Well, why'd you turn him down?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "I just don't want to."

I saw that mat and Mal were looking at me with interest. Oh no. They were thinking of using this as blackmail someday. I had demon siblings.

Mom frowned thoughtfully. "Collin Main?" she asked. "Isn't that the boy that used to tease you all the time when you were younger?"

"Yeah." I mumbled. I wondered why Mom was pressing this. What was she thinking?

"Don't boys usually pick on girls because they like them?" Dad asked Mom. So that's what they were thinking. Gross.

Mom nodded. "That's what I've always heard."

"Ooh." Mat teased. "Scout has a boyfriend."

"No I don't." I said firmly, standing up. "I have an… annoyance. Collin won't leave me alone."

"I wonder why." Dad said, winking.

That was the last straw. I turned on my heels and headed out of the kitchen. I couldn't stand being around my family anymore.

"Where are you going, Scout?" I heard Mom ask, concerned.

"Bed!" I shouted as I opened the door to my room, slammed it shut, and flung myself on my bed.

Solitude. That was what I needed. I laid down, still fully clothed. I didn't care though. I knew I wasn't going to be falling asleep for a while. The events of the day were still swirling around in my head.

Outside, I could've sworn I heard a wolf howl.


	4. Worst Day Ever

The next day at school I was struggling to keep awake. Every class was agony. I don't know how many times I'd gotten called down for 'drifting' in class. I'd been up all night. I'd never actually managed to fall asleep.

So, when Luna Miller and Karma Song sat down with Harm and me, I really wasn't paying any attention to what they were saying. Until I heard something about Grace Berry.

See, Grace was a sophomore who should have been a junior. She had been held back in the first grade. She was also, as far as I knew, seeing Collin.

"Isn't that Collin Main's girlfriend?" I asked, raising my head and coming back to life. It was the first thing I'd said all day.

Luna rolled her eyes. "You obviously weren't listening to a single word we said." Luna was my friend, but she was extremely rude sometimes. She also loved to gossip about other people.

I sat up slowly, stretching a little. "Sorry. I'm tired. Didn't get any sleep." I let out a yawn, proving my point. "So, what were you saying about Grace?"

"These two airheads were talking about how the jerkface dumped Grace right after school yesterday." Harm said, disgusted. She didn't think too much of Luna or Karma. They more or less talked to me and ignored her.

They both rolled their eyes at Harmony and then nodded. "They'd been dating for three whole months." Karma told me. Was that supposed to be major or something?

I didn't see how Grace could stand being with Collin for that long. Of course, she wasn't all too bright. Maybe that was the reason why Collin wanted to date her in the first place. Well, that and the fact that she was very pretty.

"She was so upset that she didn't show up for school today." Luna added, looking sad. I couldn't imagine why.

"How do you know that?" I asked, confused. If it just happened yesterday, then how could anyone possibly know that that was the reason she stayed home? Did it really get around that fast?

"She's my cousin. Duh." she replied snottily. This was one of the many reasons I barely spoke to Luna or Karma. I mean, how was I supposed to know that? Sure, Luna was my friend, but I didn't talk to her that much.

"Okay." I said, slowly. "Do you know what he said to her or why he broke up with her?" I asked.

Luna and Karma looked at each other, eyebrows raised in a questioning and suspicious way.

"Uh… something about him not being right for her. He's obviously covering up for something." Luna told me. "Probably cheated on her and knew it was only a matter of time before she found out. 'Course, I didn't tell her that. That would make her even more upset."

Karma smirked at me like she knew a secret or something. I didn't like that look. It usually meant something bad. "Why so curious, Scout?" she asked. I couldn't place the tone in her voice, but it sounded accusatory. It was almost like she thought I was the reason Collin broke up with Grace. But that was ludicrous.

"Yeah." Harm asked me, crossing her arms. I couldn't believe she was getting into this. It was so very unlike her. "Why do you care?"

All three of them stared at me. I felt like I was on trial or something. I didn't know why I had asked. I certainly didn't care.

I shrugged. "Is it illegal to ask questions? I don't really care. Just thought that I'd ask. Sheesh. Don't look at me like I committed a crime."

Luna and Karma looked at me like they didn't believe me but weren't going to say anything. They went back to gossiping about someone else and left me alone.

The rest of the lunch period was pretty silent. Since I was tired, I hadn't gotten anything to eat. I began counting ceiling tiles out of sheer boredom and ignored everyone else, including Harm who was still staring at me suspiciously.

It wasn't too long before the bell rang and everyone headed back to their third block classes. Luna and Karma left Harm and me alone.

"So…" Harm began, awkwardly. "You okay, Scout?" she asked me nonchalantly. "You're really starting to worry me."

I looked at my best friend. Harm's long hair had been put in a ponytail and then clipped to her head. I always thought she was so much prettier than me. She never wore makeup unless it was a special occasion. She didn't need it.

"I'm okay." I told her after a second of silence. "I'm really tired though. I didn't sleep a wink."

"Why?" Harm asked. "You'd think that after the day we had yesterday you'd be freakin' exhausted."

"Uh… there was this wolf howling all night." I lied. The wolf had actually stopped at around midnight. I'd just been thinking a lot.

Before harm could saying anything more to me, I got to my class. I told her that I'd see her later and then walked inside, zipping up my jacket. It was freezing in there. I felt like I was in an ice box.

Coach Levi lectured us on the first inhabitants of North America. I didn't pay too much attention. I was more concentrated on staying awake than anything else. Besides, I'd learned this in the fourth grade and every year after. We always started at the beginning and never got past the events leading up to the Civil War.

I was relieved when the bell rang a half hour later. Or, I was until I realized what class I was having next. Geometry. Joy.

I grudgingly headed up the stairs to class. I'd learned from my locker mistake yesterday. I needed to go to my locker before first block and then again before third. This way, I wouldn't be late.

When I got to Ms. Middleton's class, I found the door closed and a few people lined up right outside the door, against the wall. I groaned when I saw the last person in line.

"Hey Scout." Collin said, grinning as I got into line behind him. He looked absolutely thrilled.

I thought I might as well ask the question that was on my mind. "Why are we standing out here in the hall?"

"Ms. Middleton has planning third block." he explained, keeping his eyes on me. Man, he was freakishly tall. "She could be anywhere."

Suddenly, a janitor unlocked the door for us and everyone who had been standing outside the door walked into the room.

Once inside, I stood at the front of the classroom, trying to pick out a possible new seat. I saw the busted up desk I had sat in last time.

"Hey, I'll get you another desk." Collin offered. I hadn't noticed he was standing next to me. "That crappy one can't be comfortable."

Before I could say anything, he sat his stuff down on his own desk, grabbed the busted desk with one hand, lifted it with ease, and switched it with the nicer one in front of it.

"There." he said, sitting down in his seat. "That's better."

I slowly walked to the desk. So much for finding a new seat today. "Uh… thanks." I told him, sitting down in the desk. I didn't want to be rude after he had gone through all that trouble. The question was: Why had he done that for me?

He nodded, grinning. "No problem. It was my pleasure." He sounded one hundred percent sincere.

At that moment, Ms. Middleton walked through the door and shut it behind her. "Sorry I'm late everyone. This doesn't usually happen."

I hoped it wouldn't. I didn't want to stand outside while Collin bothered me every single day for the whole semester. I was definitely going to find another seat tomorrow.

Ms. Middleton walked over to her desk and picked something up. She turned to the class, holding a white piece of paper with a bunch of empty boxes on it. This couldn't be good news.

"This is a blank seating chart." she informed us. "I hate to assign seating, but the office says I have to have a seating chart. So, just write your name in the box that represents the seat you are currently sitting in." She handed it to the first kid in the first row.

Perfect. Now I was stuck next to Collin for the whole semester. There was no changing seats now.

After everyone wrote their name on the seating chart, we got started on some actual math work. We learned about lines. It was just basic stuff.

Collin kept glancing back at me the entire class period. It was really annoying and super weird. Maybe Ms. Middleton would move me if I begged. That worked with some teachers.

Ms. Middleton gave us our assignment fifteen minutes before the bell rang so we could get a head start on our homework.

While everyone else talked, I actually managed to finish my work. Oddly enough, I noticed that Collin had started working a couple minutes after I had. I would've thought he'd be one of the main talkers.

Soon, the bell rang and everyone rushed for the door. There was such a jam that a few of us slow kids had to wait a couple of minutes before escaping.

Unfortunately, Collin had also decided to be slow, so when we made it out of the classroom he began to walk with me.

"So… you babysitting after school?" he asked me, casually.

I shrugged. The last thing I wanted to do was hang out with him. However, Mom never said she didn't need me. Maybe we'd be out of bread or milk or something and she'd have to run to the store. "Probably." I answered.

He nodded thoughtfully. "Well, maybe I could help. I'm really good with little kids."

Oh no. There was absolutely no way that was happening.

"Uh…" I had to come up with something fast. "My… dad doesn't really like me having anyone over if he's not there. Especially boys."

"But doesn't Harmony come over?" he asked me.

We were at my locker. I slowly opened my locker. I needed to get rid of me before someone saw us and started talking.

"Yeah." I said after a few seconds. "But Harm's my best friend, Dad trusts her, and she's not a boy."

I pulled my backpack and health book out of the locker. That was all the homework that I had thankfully.

"Well, can I walk you home?" he asked. For a second, I thought he sounded hopeful. I was probably just imagining it.

I slammed my locker shut and slung my backpack over my shoulder. I hated lying, but I had to. I wanted him to leave me alone.

"I'm walking home with Harm." I told him, hoping he couldn't tell that I was lying. Harmony actually had a dentist appointment.

"Oh." he said simply. "Girl talk, huh?"

I nodded absentmindedly. "Uh huh. I gotta go now." I began walking down the hallway.

"See you later, Scout!" Collin shouted after me.

I stupidly glanced over my shoulder. He was waving and smiling at me. I quickly turned back around.

What was with him?


	5. Maybe I Do Need A Shrink

After school, I did not go straight home. I wanted to be alone, so I decided to walk around for a while. I had to put my hood up over my head so that if Collin was around, he wouldn't notice me. That would be a very bad thing.

I don't know why I chose to stop at First Beach. Maybe it was simply because I loved the beach. Maybe it was because the beach was completely deserted, the perfect place to be alone.

I stood in front of the ocean and watched the waves. I breathed in and out and cleared my mind. In with the good thoughts and out with the bad.

It took me a little while to notice that I wasn't as alone as I had originally thought. Seth Clearwater was standing next to me, also quietly watching the ocean. I guess I wasn't the only one who loved it here.

I sighed and turned to him. "How long have you been standing here, Seth?" I asked him.

He shrugged, still focusing on the waves. "Maybe… five minutes or so." He took in a breath and slowly let it out. "Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, nodding towards the ocean.

I nodded. "Yeah, it is." I turned to him again. "So, why're you here?" Needless to say, I was pretty curious.

He looked at me and smiled. "Well, you looked kind of sad and lonely." he explained. "Thought I might try and talk to you. Cheer you up a bit." That was just like Seth.

"I like being alone." I told him. In a family like mine, alone time was sacred. "I chose to be alone today."

Seth shook his head in utter disbelief. "I'll never in a million years understand why someone would choose to be alone." he sighed, heavily. He looked sad, which was so unusual for him. He was a generally happy person.

I felt very confused. "Well… sometimes you just… need to get away from people, you know?"

He sighed again. "I guess." He stared at the ocean for a few seconds. "I've just been alone a little too long."

This made me even more confused. Every time I saw Seth, he was surrounded by his friends, smiling and laughing. Maybe he was talking about something else. What did I know? It was best not to pry.

We went back to staring at the waves. It was odd to be near someone and yet be completely alone. Seth and I were absorbed in our own thoughts, yet we were at the same place, at the same time.

After maybe ten minutes of silence, Seth said, "So… I hear you're in Geometry this year." I wondered where he'd heard that.

I nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. Everyone thinks I'm some kind of math genius. It gets really annoying. Everyone always tries to get me to do their work."

"That's awful." he told me. He stuffed his hands in his pants pockets and let out a slow, deep breath. "You know, Collin's not such a bad guy."

I shrugged. I should've known Collin would come up sooner or later. I really didn't want to talk about him. Especially not to one of his closest friends. I'd rather gouge out my eyes.

"Oh, come on." he chuckled softly. "I'm serious. He's a great guy once you get to know him. Nice, funny, cool."

Okay, that was the single funniest thing I'd heard in my entire life. "Oh yeah." I scoffed. "Real great. Spectacular." I desperately wanted to change the subject. Anything but Collin. Anything.

Seth sighed. "Look, he's really sorry about what he did when you were little. Kids are dumb. He really wants to be your friend. Trust me." He looked at the ocean for a brief second and then turned back to me.

I shook my head and turned around, walking off in a huff. I didn't give a care about what anyone said. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with Collin Main. Absolutely nothing. He was a grade A jerk. Plain and simple.

I made it to the edge of the beach and faintly heard Seth shout, "Come on! Just give him a chance, Scout!" That was the very last thing I would give Collin. I trudged onward, trying to put Collin out of my mind.

I came home to a quiet house, which I found extremely odd. It was never quiet in my house. Never. Well, okay. So, at night it's quiet. Unless Danny wakes up crying or one of us is sick. Where was everyone? What was going on?

I walked to my bedroom, my footsteps echoing throughout the eerily quiet house. I felt like I was in a horror movie and at any moment some guy in a hockey mask was going to jump out at me with a machete or something.

Feeling slightly panicky, I opened my door, slowly. Through the crack, I could see my mother sitting on my bed with two coffee mugs in her hand. She smiled and beckoned me to come inside.

Relieved, I opened the door the rest of the way and entered my room. I threw my backpack in a corner and hung my jacket up in my closet.

"Hey, Mom." I said, sitting down on my bed next to her. "Where is everyone?" I knew we were the only two in the house. Well, Danny was probably napping or something, but that wasn't the point.

She handed me a mug which was full of hot chocolate and then simply replied, "Out." She took a long sip from her mug and then sighed. "Scout, I want to talk to you about last night."

I blushed and took a huge gulp of my hot chocolate to avoid talking about that whole embarrassing event. Unfortunately, I burned my tongue and began choking. Not fun at all.

"Scout." Mom said, her tone panicky. She sat her mug down at her feet and began patting my back, hard.

"Okay." I sputtered. "Fine. Just a little… too hot." I took a few deep breaths. "I'm better now. Thanks, Mom." I sat my mug down on my end table.

She looked at me with that "mom" concern and then picked up her mug, continuing. "Well, like I was saying. I think you need a way to get all of your feelings out."

"Mom." I complained. "I just got mad last night. People had been getting on my nerves all day. No big deal." I watched enough teen movies and read enough teen books to know that Mom wanted to take me to a shrink.

"You can't keep you emotions bottled up. It's just not healthy." she sighed. Then, she reached under my pillow and pulled out a simple, light purple book. "It's a journal." she told me, handing me the book.

Oh no. That was even worse. "Uh.. Thanks." I said, slowly. "It's great." I hoped she couldn't tell that I was lying.

She gave me a smile, so I guess she believed me. "So, you'll write in it?" she asked me.

I nodded. "Uh… sure. Whenever I get the chance. I'll definitely use it." I felt awful for lying like this. I wrapped my arms around her. "Thank you so much."

She patted my shoulder and then, slowly, stood up. "Come on." she told me. "Everyone will be getting home soon. I need some help with dinner."

"Sure." I told her, standing up. I followed Mom out the door, leaving my mug and journal behind. I vowed to never use it.

Cooking with my mom is so fun. We talk and laugh and have a generally good time. We make all kinds of different things. Like, tonight we were making scallops with peas and rice. It was simple to make and really delicious.

I had just managed to turn the heat on the scallops, when I heard a loud knock at the front door. I knew it couldn't be any of my family. We all used the back door.

"Scout, can you get that?" Mom asked me in a sing-song voice as she rummaged in the cabinets for the peas and rice.

"Sure!" I shouted at her. Thank goodness scallops can be left alone to cook. Otherwise, I'd have been in a tough situation.

I walked to the door at a brisk pace and then quickly jerked it open, expecting to see Harm or one of the neighbors or something.

What I didn't expect to see was Collin, standing right outside my door, looking nervous, running his hand through his short hair… shirtless.

"Uh… hey, Scout." he said rather quietly. He even sounded nervous. That confused me a lot.

"Uh… uh… um… uh." I stuttered stupidly. What was wrong with me? It was stupid, jerk face Collin. Shirtless and very… cute looking. Oh God. No way. I was just in shock. That was all.

"Scout?" he asked me, waving his hand in front of my face. I must've zoned out. It was perfectly normal. Too many thoughts in my head. Too much stress. "You okay?"

I blinked rapidly and then tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. "Collin… why are you here?" I asked, still slightly in shock.

"Uh… well… I… forgot our… homework assignment in… Geometry." he said, sounding unsure. I found that odd since I watched him write it down in class. Or, at least I thought I had.

"Um… page twenty-four problems seven through forty-one odd." I told him. This had to be some kind of plot. It just had to be.

He nodded. "Thanks." He stuck his hands in his pants pockets and let out a heavy sigh.

I folded my arms across my chest. "You want anything else?" I asked. There had to be something else. Otherwise, he would have left.

"Uh… yeah." he said, slowly. He sounded really nervous. He let out a breath. "I was wondering…" He stopped and took another deep breath. "Well, there's a dance at school… on Saturday." He shook his head, like he was clearing it out. "Uh… I thought… you might want to go… with me." He looked up at me and then got this look on his face like he said something wrong. "I mean, if you don't already have a date."

Me? Why was he asking me? I was… nobody. In the back of my mind, I could picture it. It was… amazing and surreal. No. Impossible was a better word. It was probably just a way to mess with me, to embarrass me. He wasn't serious.

"Uh… actually, I'm not going to the dance." Dances weren't my thing. And, anyway, I certainly didn't want to go with Collin. It'd just end in disaster.

He looked… crushed. "Oh." he said, his voice faltering. "Why not?"

I shrugged. Personally, I didn't think it was any of his business. However, I said, "I just don't like dances."

"Oh." he said, understandingly. "Well, that's too bad. I thought it might be fun."

"Scout!" I heard Mom shout. "What's taking so long?!"

I turned my head back towards the door. "Coming Mom!" I yelled. Then I turned back to Collin.

"I'll… uh… I'll see you tomorrow then." he said, smiling sheepishly.

"Uh… sure." I said, confused. "Bye." I said, turning back towards the door.

"Hey, if you change your mind… just let me know." he said, walking backwards. Lucky for him, we had a patio instead of a porch. Otherwise, he would've fallen and I would've died laughing.

There was no way I was going to change my mind, but I nodded anyway. "I'll be sure to do that." I walked back into the house, shutting the door behind me.

"Who was that, honey?" Mom asked me as I walked back into the kitchen. I noticed the food was finished and Mom was setting the table.

"Uh… a kid in my Geometry class." I told her, pulling open the silverware drawer. I grabbed a handful of forks and walked over to the table. "Just needed to know what we had for homework."

She nodded absentmindedly. "Well, it's good that you helped them."

I sighed, setting the forks down in their proper places. Outside, I could hear a long, low howl. It sounded like the wolf from the night before. I felt a chill go up my spine.


	6. Why Can't Everyone Leave Me Alone?

The rest of my first week of school went by pretty quickly. I was swamped with homework every single day. Thankfully, I hadn't had to baby-sit my siblings or any of the neighbors' kids.

I'd also managed to develop a routine. It went a little something like this: Get up at five-thirty, get dressed, eat some breakfast, walk to school with Harm, go to my classes, eat lunch with Harm, Luna, and Karma, walk to Harm's house, do homework, come home, help Mom with dinner, reread 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix', go to sleep, and repeat.

Unfortunately, avoiding Collin was not in my daily routine. Everyday during Geometry class, he would glance at me a lot and smile. After class he would hang back, waiting for me. (I tried to go as slow as possible so maybe he would just get fed up and leave. No such luck.) I'd try to ignore him as he followed me down the hall, but he wouldn't allow that. He'd follow me to my locker and ask me if I'd changed my mind about the dance. I'd tell him that I hadn't, he'd look sad, and then he'd slowly leave.

I couldn't for the life of me understand why he kept asking me. It was like he hoped he would eventually wear me down. It was like he hoped I would give in. I wished he would stop. People were beginning to look at me funny.

Finally, it was Saturday, the day of the dance that I didn't plan on going to. The morning started out normally enough. I got up around eleven, got dressed, and decided to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast. My attempt at breakfast was fruitless; we had run out of milk.

Dad was already at work, so Mom grabbed Danny and headed out to do some grocery shopping. She promised me that she wouldn't be gone long. However, I knew better.

Not long after that, the phone rang with calls for Mat and Mal from their friends to come outside and play. This left me and Faith alone for a few hours.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked Faith, hoping that since it was just the two of us she'd want to do something normal and reasonable for once.

She sighed heavily. "I don't know." She looked really tired. This was probably because she just woke up and it wasn't an important day, like the first day of school. "Let's just go play catch."

I smiled, happy that she picked something simple. "Go get the ball out of your room and get dressed." I told her. "I'll meet you at the back door."

In just a few minutes, we were outside, playing and enjoying the rare sunshine. It was just one of those perfect days.

Or, it was until Collin walked into our backyard, grinning at me like a jack-o-lantern. Did he have nothing better to do on a Saturday morning than come and bother me?

"Hey, Scout." he said, coming towards me with that stupid grin glued to his face. "This your little sister?" he asked, motioning towards Faith, who was tossing the ball up in the air and catching it.

I nodded, wishing he would go away and leave me alone. "Her name's Faith. She's seven."

Faith stopped tossing the ball when she heard her name and ran over to us. "Hi." she said shyly, sticking close to her big sister.

Collin grinned and crouched down to her level. "Wow." he said in mock amazement. "You're tall for a seven-year-old. You sure you're not eight?"

This made Faith really happy. She was grinning so big you could see a few of her missing teeth. "I'm actually seven and a half." she exclaimed proudly. "How old are you?"

"Me? I'm fifteen." he told her.

"You're tall for fifteen." Faith said, looking at me, frowning. "Scout, how come you aren't tall for your age?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, Faith." I looked at the ball, laying forgotten in the grass. "Hey, why don't you take the ball and head back inside while I talk to Collin?" Get rid of Collin more like.

However, Faith had other plans. "Let's play monkey in the middle!" she shouted, running off and grabbing her ball. "Collin's in the middle!" She ran to a spot near the porch and motioned for us to come.

Collin looked at me and shrugged. "I'm game if you are." he said. Seriously, what was with this kid? Why would a fifteen-year-old guy want to play monkey in the middle with the seven-year-old sister of the girl he terrorized for five years?

I sighed. This was definitely not how I wanted to spend my day. However, if I refused Faith would be upset. "Why not?" I knew I was going to regret this.

The game was actually pretty fun, considering who I was playing with. Collin hadn't been lying when he said he was good with little kids. Faith loved him.

When Faith threw the ball, he pretended that he couldn't quite reach it for a while. When Faith ended up in the middle and began getting frustrated because she couldn't get her hands on the ball, he tossed her an easy one and she caught it. I must admit, I was impressed.

After fifteen minutes of intense play, I finally gave up and sat down on the porch steps, trying to catch my breath. Collin and Faith quit playing and sat down with me.

"So, Scout." Collin said, not even out of breath. "You changed your mind about going to the dance with me? Last chance." Why'd he have to ask me that in front of my little sister?

"Sorry." I told him automatically. "I'm not going. I already told you." I still didn't know why he wanted to go with me. It had to be some kind of elaborate scheme to humiliate me.

Collin sighed, sounding legit. "Okay then. If you're sure."

Everything was silent for a few minutes. I hoped Mom would hurry up and get home. Maybe Collin would leave then.

"Collin?" Faith asked, breaking the silence. "Did you used to pick on Scout when you were my age?"

Collin quickly looked down, like he was ashamed. "Uh... yeah." he mumbled. "I wasn't a very nice kid. I'm really sorry I did it though." He looked up at me, his eyes begging my forgiveness. However, I wasn't stupid. I wasn't going to fall for it.

Faith nodded, understandingly. "So, do you like Scout?" she asked curiously. Great. She had actually taken Mom and Dad seriously at dinner on Monday.

Collin seemed to blush. "Well, I want to be friends with her." he told her. "I suppose I like her... as a friend." Yeah, right.

Faith grinned mischievously. She stood on her knees and stage-whispered in Collin's ear, "Scout loves daisies. She thinks they're beautiful."

Collin chuckled and then stage-whispered to Faith, "I'll keep that in mind then."

Thankfully, Mom pulled up before anyone could say anything else. Perfect. She decides to show up right after Faith embarrassed me in front of Collin. Who I hate. No matter how nice he is to my little sister.

Collin got up as Mom got out of her car. I supposed he was afraid. "I'll... uh... I'll see you later, Scout. This was really fun. I had a nice time." He smiled at me and for a moment, I was hypnotized.

However, I quickly snapped myself back to reality. "Bye." I told him simply. I was not sorry to see him leave. If anything, I was relieved.

On his way out of the yard, he passed my mom, who now had Danny in her arms. "See you, Mrs. Barlow."

Mom looked surprised, but replied, "Good-bye." and waved as Collin walked up the road. As she walked up the porch steps past me, she asked, "What went on while I was gone?" She was actually smiling! What the heck?

"Nothing." I muttered, getting angry. What was everyone's problem? Why couldn't they all leave me alone?

"Mommy, guess what!" Faith said, jumping up and down. "We played monkey in the middle with Collin and he said that I'm really tall for my age!"

"That's nice, dear." Mom said as she walked to the door. "Mat and Mal gone somewhere?"

"Beach with some friends." I said quietly as she opened it.

"Mommy, can we have lunch now?" Faith asked, following Mom inside, still jumping up and down.

"Soon, honey." she said as she shut the door.

I was now all alone, just the way I liked it. However, I couldn't seem to relax. I kept expecting Collin to come back since Mom was inside. He seemed kind of... in a hurry to leave when she got there.

I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared at the ground. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't notice that Harm was walking across the street towards me until the toes of her converses stopped in my line of sight.

I looked up and gave a half-hearted smile. "Hey." I whispered quietly as she sat down. I was not really in the mood for conversation.

"Okay, that's it." Harm said, sounding irritated. Well, that was some greeting. How about a hello next time? Jeezums. "Scout, you've been weird and mopey all week."

I sighed. "I'm sorry. It's been a crazy, tiring week." I wasn't lying. I had had a lot of homework and was really tired by ten. Unfortunately, every other night that stupid wolf would howl for hours. I didn't get to sleep until after two and I had to wake up at five-thirty so I could get ready for school.

"Well, I'm sick of it." she informed me. "So, Karen's going to ask your mom if you can go... shopping with us." She gagged on the word 'shopping' like it made her ill.

"Shopping?" I asked. "What for? You hate to shop." Harm would rather gouge out her eyes than shop. In fact, the only thing she hated more than doing that was her dad.

"We need dresses for the dance." The dance? Okay, who was this girl and what had she done with my best friend? It was like she was a pod-person or something. Should I be on the lookout for UFOs?

"Have you cracked your skull?" I asked incredulously. "We both agreed we weren't going. I don't want to embarrass myself and you think dances and other school functions are lame."

She shrugged. I guess she didn't want to do this anymore than I did. "It was Karen's idea. I told her how you've been acting. She figures some girl time will cheer you up." she said, sticking out her tongue. "I wouldn't have agreed if I didn't think it might help."

I groaned. I wasn't going to be getting out of this one. Harm would drag me against my will. If she had to go, so did I. Well, Collin would be getting a good laugh at me after all.

I heard the phone ring inside the house. That was probably Karen calling Mom to make sure it was okay to take me to Port Angeles and then drop me at the dance afterwards.

Sure enough, moments later Karen walked out of her house and motioned for Harm and I to go over there.

I sighed and hoisted myself up. This really sucked. How did such a nice day turn out so awful? I guess it was just my rotten luck.

"It's for your own good." Harm said as we stopped at the side of the road and looked for passing cars before crossing. You are never too old to practice safety.

I blamed myself for the mess I was in. I should've tried to act happier or, at least, lied better. I blamed Collin. None of this would've happened if he had just left me alone. I blamed that stupid pencil that I dropped in Geometry class. If it wasn't for that, my life wouldn't be ruined.


	7. Great, More Drama

"You girls have fun!" Karen shouted as she drove off, leaving Harm and me alone in the middle of the school parking lot.

Shopping had been pretty cool. Even Harm enjoyed herself. We'd gotten two really pretty dresses and then a pair of shoes. Then Karen took us to get our hair and makeup done. We looked good.

I could hear the music from the school gym playing loudly as I smoothed out my gorgeous silver knee length dress.

"Come on." Harm told me, pushing me forward. A breeze faintly played with the bottom of her red knee length dress, causing the hem to ripple.

"But, Harm, we never even signed up to go." I reminded her, clinging to my last hope of getting out of this nightmare.

"I took care of that on Thursday." she informed me, continuing to push. Man, she'd had this plan for a while if she signed us up on Thursday. "You aren't getting out of this, Scout."

Defeated, I followed her to the gym. It was a separate building off the school. It was pretty small and was now jam packed with a bunch of dancing hormone-crazed teenagers.

We walked to the double doors and gave our principal our names. He smiled at us as he said, "Go on in girls. Enjoy yourselves."

Like good little girls we said, "We sure will." and headed on inside the school gym, both wishing we were somewhere else. I had a feeling this was going to end badly.

The gym looked like fourth graders had decorated it. There were streamers hung haphazardly on the walls and there were balloons taped to the ends of the refreshment table which just had some trays of cookies, brownies, and chips with a few bottles of pop at the end.

"Well, this is depressing." Harm muttered as we walked over to the back wall close to the refreshment table.

I looked around the gym some more, observing the goings-on. I saw a lot of kids I knew and a couple that I didn't. However, I did not see Collin anywhere.

"I thought he'd be here." I thought out loud. I hadn't meant to say it. It just sort of slipped out as I thought. It was a total accident.

"You thought who would be here?" Harm asked, her hands on her hips.

"Uh... Collin." I said truthfully. I couldn't lie to my best friend. Not after that. "He... sorta asked me to come with him." Might as well get it out into the open.

"Why?" Harm asked incredulously. "Why would that jerk ask you?" She bit her lip in thought.

I felt myself getting mad. Why wouldn't he ask me? What was so unbelievable about that? I was every bit as pretty as Grace Berry and whoever else he had dated.

However, I knew Harm didn't mean it that way, so I kept calm. "I don't know. Maybe he just wanted to embarrass me."

Harm nodded absently, still thinking. "Yeah, unless..." she trailed off.

"Unless what?" Now, I was nervous. What did Harm think it meant? What could it mean? Could it really be horrid?

"Well, he might want the whole school to think that you're together." she told me, giving me a mini heart attack.

"What?" I asked incredulously. "Why? Why would he want them thinking that?" Had Harm lost her mind?

Harm shook her head. "Think about it! He just broke up with Grace Berry. Her airhead cousin, Luna, suspects he cheated on her. I don't know if he did or not, but if he brought you to the dance..."

Suddenly, I knew what she meant. "Grace would kill me." I squeaked. She really would. She was that type of girl.

"Exactly." Harm said. "You'd be beaten up and embarrassed. Oh, and probably suspended to boot."

"Do you think he'd really do that?" I asked her. It sounded a little extreme. Sure, Collin was mean, but was he that mean?

"Of course." she said. "That jerk hates you. He'd do anything to see you hurt."

I still wasn't convinced. Would Collin really go to all that trouble just to be mean to me? Wouldn't people talk about him too? Would he really want to go through all of that just to see me beaten, embarrassed, and suspended?

"It's the only explanation." Harm said, settling the matter. Or, so I thought. "What'd you tell him when he asked?"

I sighed, annoyed, and leaned against the wall. "I told him I didn't want to go with him or anyone else." Why it was any of Harm's concern was beyond me.

She pursed her lips for a moment and then said, "You are way too nice. You should've told him to get lost or screamed at him or threatened to call the cops or something."

I knew she was right. I was too nice to people. But, Collin hadn't actually been meant to me. Not yet anyways.

I looked up and, across the room, I saw Brady Stone, one of Collin's friends. Apparently he saw me too because he grabbed his date's arm and dragged her over towards Harm and me.

"Brady?" I asked when he got over to us. I saw Harm roll her eyes at him. "What do you want?"

He rolled his eyes back at Harm and then turned his attention to me. "To talk to you." He looked at Harm. "Alone if you don't mind."

I sighed and followed Brady to a corner of the gym after he made his date (who I didn't recognize) with Harm. She didn't look too thrilled, but agreed anyway.

"Okay, what is it?" I asked, crossing my arms. I already had a feeling that I knew what he wanted.

"I thought you weren't going to be here." he said. "That's what you told Collin. Or, did you change your mind last minute and just hoped he'd show up?"

"Harm dragged me here because she thinks I'm depressed." I informed him. "And why isn't he here anyway?"

"He didn't want to come because you weren't going with him." he said, shaking his head. That threw me for a loop.

"So? he still could've come. He could've asked someone else." Sheesh. Why was Brady blaming this on me? What did it matter?

Brady looked at me like I was an idiot. "He didn't want to come with anyone but you, Scout."

"Why?"

"He likes you! A lot!" he shouted at me, causing several people to turn in our direction to see what the commotion was about. "Do you not understand? Are you blind?"

What?! Okay, this had to be a joke. Was I being Punk'd? Where were the cameras and the TV crew?

"What?!" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah." he said. "Told me so himself." Okay, so either Collin lied to Brady or Brady was lying to me because Collin told him too. Why was a mystery, but there was no way this was true.

"Uh... um..." I stammered. I wanted to get out of there. I wanted to be home under my covers. My instincts told me to run. "I gotta go, Brady." I ran straight for Harm, listening to my instincts.

"Scout? Are you okay?" she asked me, concerned. I didn't see Brady's date around anywhere. I assumed she went off somewhere. I didn't even care at the moment.

Then, I realized I was crying. Great. Collin wasn't even around and he was still managing to make me cry.

"What happened?" she asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. "What did Brady say to you? Want me to kick his butt?"

I shook my head in response to the third question. "Nothing." I sniffled in response to the first and second questions. "I just... wanna go home." Preferably before I caused a scene.

Right then and there Harm pulled out her phone and called Karen to come and pick us up. Then she walked me over to the bleachers, picking up a few napkins as we went by the refreshment table.

"Here." she said, being a good best friend and handing me one of the napkins.

"Thanks." I said snottily, dabbing at my eyes. I don't know why I had gotten so upset at what Brady had said.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Harm asked after I had calmed down some.

"Not really. It was pretty stupid." I managed a small laugh. "I don't know why I cried." That was halfway true.

Suddenly, Harm's phone beeped, signaling that she had a new text. She looked at the screen and said, "Karen's here. Let's get you home."

The ride home was quick and quiet. I didn't feel like talking too much. What I felt was exhausted. Karen and Harm understood and so they didn't say anything either.

Soon, Karen stopped her car in front of my house and I got out, being careful of my dress and trying not to break my heels.

"I'm sorry you had such a rotten time, hon." Karen apologized in her motherly voice. I always wondered why she never had any kids of her own. I mean, she did a great job raising Harm.

I shrugged. "I'll be okay." I waved them goodbye as they backed out of my driveway and went across the street. I then walked to the front door, opened it, and went inside.

Mom was sitting at the table with a cup of steaming coffee in her hand. "You're home early." she noted. "How was the dance?"

"Awful." I said, heading to my bedroom. I didn't mean to be rude. I just still didn't feel like saying much to anyone.

Once in the safety of my bedroom, I quickly changed out of my dress and into my favorite pajamas that were pink with frogs on them. (Yeah, I'm a dork. I've heard.)

I climbed into bed after I turned out all the lights and snuggled down under my cover. I was so exhausted you would've thought I would have been out like a light after my head hit the pillow.

However, for some reason, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about what Brady had said to me about Collin. It couldn't be true. Why would Collin Main like me?

Outside, I heard the wolf howl. (I assumed it was the same one.) It sounded really sad and depressed. I knew exactly how the poor thing felt.


	8. An Unlikely Protector

I awoke the next day feeling like I hadn't gotten any sleep at all the night before. I was still extremely tired and I felt really sore and stiff.

Sitting up to stretch, I noticed a few rather odd things. First, sunlight was streaming through my bedroom window. Two pretty days in a row? Second, the house was quiet. No screaming because someone ate someone else's pancakes. Third, my clock said it was one o'clock in the afternoon. Had I really slept that late?

Confused and still rather tired, I got up to investigate. I changed into a pair of jean shorts and a Harry Potter t-shirt, brushed my hair and teeth, and quietly tiptoed down the hallway to find out what was up.

It looked as if I was the only one home. My suspicion was confirmed when I saw my mom's note stuck to the fridge. She said they all went to see a movie and that they hadn't wanted to wake me up. She also said they'd be back around three and that she loved me.

"Yes!" I shouted, jumping into the air. I was going to get two whole hours to myself! What was I going to do?

My stomach growled and I decided my first order of business was to scrounge up something to eat for breakfast... or lunch. Whichever.

I dug through our very full refrigerator until I found an almost empty box of strawberry cream cheese Toaster Strudel.

"All right!" I yelled in triumph. "The monkeys didn't eat all of them!" I pulled the last two out, closed the fridge door, and tossed the empty box into the very full trash can.

I popped them into the toaster and then walked back over to the fridge. I pulled out a jug of orange pineapple juice and poured myself a nice, tall glass. Then, I also threw the empty jug away.

Soon, my breakfast popped out of the toaster. I grabbed a plate out of the cabinet above me and tried not to burn myself as I set the pastries on the plate.

I sat down at the table and enjoyed my peaceful, quiet breakfast/lunch or whatever by myself. It was amazing.

Soon, I was finished and, after taking out the garbage and washing the dishes, I found myself wondering what I should do next. There was a whole list of possibilities.

I looked out the window in front of the kitchen sink. The sky outside was a brilliant blue and the sun was warm and bright. Suddenly, I knew what I was going to do. I was going to take a walk in the woods.

When I was younger and needed to be by myself, I'd go traipsing through the woods for a bit. I hadn't been able to do that in a while because people had seen things in the woods. Some said bears. Others said wolves.

It was then that I remembered the wolf I kept hearing almost every night. What if I ran into it? Maybe if I stuck close to the house and didn't go in too far I'd be okay. Yes, that's what I'd do. As long as I didn't go in too far I'd be fine.

I stepped outside into the magnificent sunshine and headed out towards the old, mystical looking woods that surrounded Forks and La Push.

When I was younger I used to pretend that the woods were magic. I used to pretend that they were the Forbidden Forest surrounding Hogwarts. I used to pretend that they were full of weird creatures. Fairies, centaurs, dragons, vampires, and werewolves.

The millions of dead leaves under my feet crackled with every step I took. The only other sound I could hear was my own deep breathing.

Okay, odd. The woods had never been this quiet before. There should have been birds singing, trees creaking, animals moving. However, there was nothing.

I began getting afraid. It was unnatural. There should have been noises of life. Instead, it was silent like death.

I obviously wasn't watching where I was going, because my feet suddenly went out from under me and I went sliding down a small hill, screaming.

I landed hard on my butt. I checked myself, finding that I didn't have any injuries aside from my really sore behind. I then stood up slowly and brushed myself off.

There was still not a single sound to be heard. Surely my fall should've stirred up some birds or something. But no. All was eerily quiet.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. Something was definitely wrong. There was something sinister in the woods. Only the presence of danger would make the woods this quiet.

"Well, what have we here?" The voice was as smooth as silk and came from above me.

I looked up into the trees. It was there that I saw the speaker. He was... beautiful. There was just no other word for it. He had pure white skin and shaggy, dark brown hair.

"Who are you?" I asked. There was something off about this guy. I mean, what kind of a guy sits in a tree in the middle of the woods? A psycho.

He smiled a dazzling white smile and dropped out of the tree. He landed perfectly on his feet without making so much as a sound. It reminded me of a cat.

"I'm Toby." he said, still grinning. It was then that I noticed his eyes. They were blood red. That was not normal.

"What're you doing here?" I asked, trying to sound calm. My breath had gotten quicker.

He continued to grin. "It seems as though you know what I am." he said, smoothly.

I did. I couldn't believe it though. They were just supposed to be stories. But still. Toby fit the description of what my ancestors called the "Cold Ones". He was a vampire no matter how unbelievable it seemed.

He chuckled. "I thought so." He walked closer to me and I backed away. "Since you know what I am, you must know what I want."

"Blood." I said in barely a whisper. To be more precise, my blood. I could practically hear my heart hammering in my chest. Why did it have to be so loud?

"That's right." he whispered, still grinning. "I promise it won't hurt. You'll feel no pain."

Just as he was about to close in, an angry snarl came through the trees. A wolf jumped into the space between the vampire and me.

The wolf was larger than average with reddish fur. He bared his teeth at the vampire, still snarling, daring him to come any closer.

"Stupid dog." Toby muttered, stepping back. He looked a little uneasy. "Ruined a perfectly good meal." With that, he turned on his heels and ran away at an amazing speed.

When the wolf was sure Toby was gone, he turned to me and quit growling. His eyes looked soft and warm. He seemed... human.

I probably should've been afraid, but I wasn't. I actually felt connected to the wolf somehow. It was almost like I knew him.

"Hi." I said, tentatively. Great. I was talking to a wolf. "You won't hurt me." It was more of a statement than a question.

He bowed his head in response. So he could communicate. I took his gesture as a yes and walked a little closer.

"The legends are true. You're a protector of La Push." If the Cold Ones existed that could only mean that the stories about our people being descended from wolves were true.

I'd always loved to pretend they were when I was younger. I actually always dreamed of being one. Magic and myth had always appealed to me.

Again, the wolf bowed his large head in answer to my question. He really did understand me, didn't he?

"You saved me." I told him. "That vampire would've killed me. You scared him away." I realized the truth of my words. I had almost died.

This time, the wolf let out a long, low, sad howl in response. I knew that howl. It was that wolf that I kept hearing.

"You've been following me." I whispered. Okay, I was being stalked by a wolf. This day just kept getting stranger and stranger.

The wolf slowly walked up to me. His big eyes met with mine and I knew I could trust him. Instinctively, I scratched him behind his ears. He responded by licking me on the hand, yipping, and running off.

"Wait!" I called after him. What if Toby came back now that my protector was gone? I'd be killed for sure.

Five minutes after the wolf left, I heard someone coming towards me. I was too scared to turn around. What if it was him?

The footsteps suddenly stopped. "Scout?" Is that you?" a familiar voice asked. Oh no. It couldn't be.

I turned around, coming face to face with Collin. He was shirtless and barefoot which I thought was weird. He was wearing a pair of jean shorts and had one arm hidden behind his back.

"Oh no." I groaned. This was the last thing I needed. "What're you doing here?" I asked. Could I never be alone? What was with the universe?

"It's dangerous out here." he said, ignoring my question. "You could get hurt. There are wolves and... other things in here."

I raised my eyebrow suspiciously. "What 'other things'?" I asked. What did Collin know? Did he really know anything?

He hesitated for a moment. "Dangerous other things." he said, quickly. "Just, stay out of the woods."

"Why?" I asked him curiously. Was he keeping something from me?

He hesitated again. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

That was a laugh. "Why would you care what happened to me?"

He sucked in a deep breath. "Brady said he talked to you at the dance." he said, changing the subject.

I nodded, following along. "Yeah. I had a nice little chat with him." I said sarcastically. I was finished being nice to him. I had to get him to leave me alone.

"You said you weren't going to be at the dance." he said, glumly. "I would've come if I had known that Harmony was dragging you there."

I didn't know what to say to that. He had sounded so sincere that he had caught me off guard. What was he playing at?

He chuckled nervously at my silence. "Yeah, Brady told me about that."

Oh, so he'd been talking to Brady about me, had he? Did Brady also tell him that I cried? Did the two of them have a nice laugh about that?

I crossed my arms. "What're you doing here, Collin?" I asked again, harshly.

He grinned like a shy little kid. "I was out walking and I saw these." He pulled his arm out from behind his back. In his hand were a few daisies.

I gasped in shock. What? Daisies? Where'd he get them? Why'd he pick them? Why'd he pick them for me?

"Faith said they were your favorites." he said, nervously. "I thought you'd like them."

I stared in shock at the flowers in his hand. Why was he taking this trick so far? Why was he trying so desperately to humiliate me?

"Go away, Collin." I whispered, closing my eyes. I couldn't look at him.

"What?" he asked, sounding shocked.

"Go away." I repeated, trying to keep my voice steady.

"You... you don't want them?" he asked, his voice shaking. How did he get so good at acting?

"No." I said firmly. "I just want you gone." I felt pain welling inside my chest. Why was my heart hurting?

I heard the flowers fall. "Is that really what you want, Scout?" he asked me. Why was it so hard for him to understand that I wasn't falling for his lies?

I nodded, eyes still closed. "Just go away and stay away."

"Fine. If that's what you want." I heard him as he ran off. He was running like the ground under his feet was on fire.

Once I was sure he was gone, I went tearing out of the woods heading straight for my house. I jerked open the front door and ran inside, going straight to my room.

When I got inside, I slammed the door and jumped on my bed. I buried my face in my pillow and sobbed, not caring what time my family got home.

Why was he trying so hard to humiliate me? Did he really hate me that much? Why did he hate me that much? What did I ever do to him? I was just a little girl.

Soon, I heard my protector's howls join my sobbing. Together, we cried.


	9. That Guilty Feeling

School the next day actually went by pretty quickly. With the way I was feeling it should have dragged on. However, before I knew it, it was fourth block Geometry class and I was running late because I'd left my jacket in third block and had to go back and get it.

I ran into the classroom two seconds before the bell rang. Breathing heavily, I noticed that everyone was in their seats. Everyone except Collin. Odd. Why wasn't he there?

_Where could he be? _I wondered as I sat down in my seat, catching my breath.

"Okay!" Ms. Middleton called from the front of the classroom, clapping her hands to get our attention. Everyone stopped talking to face her. "Everyone seems to be here except for Collin Main. Does anyone know where he is?"

There was a lot of murmuring. No one seemed to know where Collin was. No one had seen him all day.

While Ms. Middleton dove into the day's work on angles, I found myself wondering where Collin could possibly be.

_He could be sick. _I thought to myself. _But he looked fine yesterday... Maybe he's skipping. _That sounded like something he might do.

But, no. I wouldn't be worried if it was either of those things. No, I thought something much worse had happened to him.

The last time I had seen him had been the other day in the woods. What if Toby had gotten him? What if he was dead?

I kept worrying all through class. I couldn't concentrate on my work. Maybe if I hadn't been so mean Collin would have followed me out of the woods. If anything had happened to him, I'd feel very guilty.

About a minute before the bell rang, Ms. Middleton stood up. "I'd like someone to give Collin the notes and the homework assignment so he doesn't fall behind." She picked up a page of notes and the worksheet she had given us earlier in the period. "Who lives near Collin?"

My hand immediately shot up in the air. I actually lived about a block away from Collin. I figured if I could see that Collin was fine, everything would go back to normal and I'd stop worrying and feeling guilty.

"Thank you, Scout." Ms. Middleton beamed as she handed me the papers. "I really appreciate this."

The bell rang and I quickly gathered up my things. I had to make a mad dash to my locker so I wouldn't run into Harm. I really didn't want to have to deal with her suspicious questions. I was tired, worried, and confused.

In record time I had gotten my stuff out of my locker and headed down the stairs and outside of the school. Luckily, I had seen no sign of Harm. Even more luckily, I hadn't seen Luna or Karma either.

I started walking at a very fast pace towards Collin's house. I was in a bit of a hurry, but I felt that running would look suspicious. Since when did dropping off homework make me feel so paranoid?

Soon, I found myself walking up Collin's porch steps. I took a deep breath and raised a shaky hand to knock on his front door. Why was I so nervous? Was I afraid of what I'd find out?

I stood outside, tapping my foot for a whole minute. I was getting more worried by the second. Luckily, someone came to answer the door.

"Yes?" asked the very pretty old time movie star looking woman who opened the door. I assumed she was Collin's mom. I'd remembered seeing her a couple of times before when I was little. "Can I help you?"

I nodded. "I'm Scout Barlow." I began. "I'm... uh... supposed to give Collin his homework in math class."

She smiled at me. "Oh, so you're Scout." She gave me a quick once over, which I found strange. She gave me another smile of approval (Why?) and then said, "Hold on. I'll get him for you." She disappeared into the house, leaving me alone.

"Thank you!" I called, a little too late.

I felt better. He was fine. He hadn't been killed by a vampire. I'd give him his homework and this whole mess would be over.

Soon, Collin stepped out onto the porch. When he looked at me, his face was contorted into pain. Okay, what was wrong with him?

"Mom said you had something to give me." he said, not looking me in the eyes. We wasn't even looking at my face. He was staring at the ground.

"Yeah." I said, taking my backpack off my shoulders. I quickly opened it and dug inside it until I found the papers I was looking for and pulled them out.

"Here." I said, handing them to him. "Those are the notes and the homework assignment from today in Geometry."

He took them from me, brushing my hand with his fingertips. In that small instant, I felt an electric shock go through me.

_What the heck? _I thought. _No. It was just a shock happens to people all the time. Too much static electricity. He'd probably been shuffling his feet on carpet or something._

"Scout?" Collin asked, bringing me back to planet Earth. "Scout?"

I shook my head, clearing it out. "Huh?" I asked him, still a little dazed. "What? Were you saying something?"

He made a disgusted grunting noise. "I asked you if that was all you wanted."

"Oh." I said. I was a little shocked at the hurt in my voice. I slowly looked up at him. He still wasn't looking at me and he still looked pained. "Uh... are you going to school tomorrow?"

He sighed, sounding a bit annoyed. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Well... uh... are you sick or something?" I asked him. Okay, why was I suddenly playing 'Twenty Questions'?

This time, he looked me in the eyes. "No, I'm fine." he said. His eyes were soft and warm. They looked... familiar.

Well, of course they looked familiar. I'd looked into them before. But, that wasn't it. I'd seem them somewhere else. I just couldn't remember where.

"Why'd you stay home?" I asked him curiously.

His gaze quickly went back to the ground. "Uh... overslept. Mom just let me stay home."

It was a perfectly logical answer, but for some reason I thought he was lying to me.

"Okay." I said, slowly. He was fine. I saw that myself. I had no reason to stick around. So, why wasn't I leaving? I supposed it was because I wanted to apologize. Or, rather, because I felt the need to.

"Uh... Collin?" I began. He looked up at me and I nervously continued. "I'm... uh... sorry about what happened yesterday."

He smiled brightly "Don't worry about it." He stuck his hands into his pockets and let out a breath. "Hey, do you wanna come in and help me with this homework? You know, so I'll understand."

I bit my lip. No way. That was out of the question. "Sorry. I can't. Gotta be heading on home."

He nodded his head in understanding, looking slightly disappointed. "Babysitting?" he asked me.

"Uh huh." I lied. It was my dad's day off and everyone was at home. I didn't need to baby-sit.

"Hey, do me a favor and tell Faith I said hi." he instructed. "You have one cool little sister."

I actually laughed at that. Who was he trying to fool? And I had thought he was a good actor. "If you say so."

"So, I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asked, looking expectant.

"You're coming to school?" I asked. "I thought you said that you might not."

He nodded. "But I just decided I would." He looked deep into my eyes.

I started feeling... strange. "Uh... well, I better go." I turned around and started walking away, relieved to be getting out of there.

"Hey, Scout!" Collin called suddenly.

I whipped around and waited for him to continue. After a few seconds of staring and silence, I decided someone should speak up. "Yeah?" I asked him. "What?"

He looked flustered. "Oh. Uh... I... um... thanks for bringing the homework and notes by. I... appreciate it."

"No problem." I said, turning back around and quickly heading home. I didn't dare turn back around.

However, I couldn't shake the feeling that Collin had had more to say to me than a mere thanks. There had been... something in his voice. But, I was probably imagining it.

_Definitely imagining it._


	10. Raindrops Don't Keep Falling On My Head

September passed by quickly and quietly. I was mostly swamped with homework that entire month. I didn't have time for much else. Now, it was October. It was a month full of horrible, wet, nasty weather and a ton of unexpected change.

It was the first Wednesday of the month and I was sitting in Geometry class. We were working on proofs. While I knew how to do them, I still hated them with a burning passion.

"Scout?" Ms. Middleton called from her desk. I had been working on a particularly hard problem, but I looked up anyway, thankful for a distraction. "Can you come up here for a second? I'd like to talk to you."

I sighed, getting up out of my seat. Collin turned to look at me, but when he saw that I was watching him, he quickly went back to his work.

Confused, I walked over to our teacher's desk and sat down in the little chair next to her desk. She had it up there for students that she wanted to talk to or that needed help with homework.

"Yes?" I asked, curious as to what she wanted. I wasn't in trouble, was I?

She smiled gently at me. "Scout, you are my best student. I need to ask you a pretty big favor."

"Okay." I said, feeling relieved. "What do you need me to do?" I asked. It was probably some type of errand. That's what most teachers asked students to do.

She sighed heavily. "Well, I was wondering if you would tutor a student for me. All you have to do is sit in here for an hour after school everyday and help him with whatever he's having trouble with."

That wouldn't be so hard. Mom was usually home when the other kids got back from school. I knew she'd be totally cool with it. In fact, I was pretty sure she'd love the idea.

"Sure. I'd love to help." I agreed wholeheartedly. "But... uh... who exactly am I supposed to be tutoring?" I asked, curiously.

Another smile crept on her lips. "Well, you'll be helping Collin Main. He hasn't done so well on any of his homework or tests."

I had to stay after school with Collin every single day? What in the world had I gotten myself into?

"Oh, okay." I said, feeling suddenly sick.

Ms. Middleton's smile turned into a frown. "Is there something wrong?" she asked. "Will that be a problem?"

I could've backed out then and there. But, no. I just had to be a good person. Sometimes I really, really hate it when I do that.

So, I stupidly shook my head. "No, that's fine. Really." I lied rather convincingly.

She smiled happily. "Ok, well that's great." Just then the bell rang and I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness that awkward conversation was over. "Why don't you just go on back to your seat and get started."

I nodded and slowly headed back to my seat. The whole class had already left by the time I sat down. It was just me, Collin, and Ms. Middleton.

"Thanks for this, Scout." Collin said as he shoved his desk next to mine. "I'm not so good at math. Never have been."

"You're welcome." I said, pulling out my calculator. "What're you having the most trouble with?" I saw Ms. Middleton slip out of the room. How I wish I could escape too.

Collin let out a long, slow breath. "I'd have to say proofs." he said, pointing to a problem in his book. Well, of course. The most challenging thing we'd done so far. "I don't understand why we need to do them."

"You have to prove that it's a triangle." I said, looking at the problem.

"Anyone can see it's a triangle." he said, exasperated. " I mean, just look at it. Obviously a triangle."

I sighed. "Just because it looks like a triangle doesn't mean it is one." I drew a circle on a piece of paper. "I could say that this is a flower. Doesn't make it one."

"But, it's a circle, not a flower." Collin said, getting frustrated. "You can see that."

"Yeah, but I say it's a flower." I challenged. "You have to prove to me that it's not one. I'm stubborn. You've gotta convince me."

He sighed and shook his head. "I still don't get this. That is definitely a triangle." He pointed to the problem in the book again.

I looked at it again, groaning. "You have to prove that's an acute triangle." I told him. "You do know what an acute angle is, right?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. It's an angle that's smaller than ninety degrees. Right?"

"Right." I told him. "So, you have to prove that this triangle has one less than ninety degree angle." I explained.

"What if it doesn't?" he asked, looking very confused and unconvinced.

I sighed again. "That's why you have to prove it." I knew he was thick. I just didn't know he was that thick. "It might be acute, it might not. You can't tell just by looking at it."

"If you say so." he said, shaking his head. "Geometry gives me a headache."

I had a feeling it was going to be giving me a headache from now on too. "Let's just get started with the homework."

It was actually surprisingly easy to work with Collin from there. He was attentive and actually listened to me. He didn't argue with me either. After a few problems, he seemed to understand what we were doing better. He still needed help getting started, but it was progress.

"Thanks a million, Scout." Collin said after the hour was up. "I'm actually starting to understand this stuff."

I smiled in spite of myself. "I'm glad." I told him as I gathered up my things. "Maybe you don't need my tutoring after all." Please.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "I still think I'm going to need a ton of help. But, you are a great tutor. Maybe you should be a teacher."

"Hmm." I'd never really thought about that. I could. Either high school math or lower elementary. "That's not a bad idea."

Collin smiled and then looked out the window. "Man, the rain's really coming down hard."

"Yeah." I said. I started to head out the door and, as per usual, Collin followed closely behind.

We walked to my locker in silence. It was sort of creepy with Collin following me through an almost deserted school. Unfortunately, I was used to him following me.

Soon, I was at my locker with Collin standing directly behind me. I sighed and turned the combination lock, wishing desperately that he would just go away and leave me alone.

After I pulled out all of my things and slammed the door, Collin looked at me, utterly flabbergasted.

"What?" I asked, more than slightly annoyed.

"It's raining cats and dogs and you don't have so much as a jacket?" he asked me in utter disbelief.

Okay, since when was it his business if I had a jacket or not? "Yeah. So?" I asked. What was he? My father or something?

He sighed. "Well, I've got an umbrella in my locker." he offered. "It's just at the other end of this hall." With that, he jogged off towards his locker.

I know what you're thinking. Why didn't I run? Well, because Collin was right. It was pouring the rain. I need his umbrella. However, there was one thing I hadn't counted on happening.

Collin jogged back up to me minutes later with a closed black umbrella in his hand. "Okay, let's get going."

"Hold up." I said, confused and not happy with where this was going. "What do you mean? I thought you were just letting me borrow your umbrella."

"Well, I thought I'd walk you home." Collin said, smiling shyly. Did he seriously think I was falling for that?

I felt stuck. On one hand, I could tell him no, have him get mad at me, and have to walk home in a downpour. On the other hand, I could let him walk me home and not get wet.

"Well, okay." I caved, not wanting to be soaking wet when I got home. "I guess you can walk me home." I wasn't going to be happy about it though.

Collin grinned excitedly. I mean, fake grinned. "Sweet, Well, like I said, we better be going."

I nodded and we headed down the stairs and outside into the mess. Surprisingly and oddly, Collin held the umbrella over my head. He was laying it on a bit thick.

"What're you doing?" I asked, looking at the umbrella that was raised over my head.

"Uh... holding the umbrella so you don't get wet." he said, slowly.

"I can carry it myself." I told him. I didn't want nor need his help.

He sighed. "Sorry. Mom brought me up to be a perfect gentleman. I can't help it."

Right. That explains why he made my childhood a living nightmare. Because he was a "perfect gentleman". Don't make me laugh.

I didn't say anything the rest of the way to my house. I refused to let Collin get me worked up over something stupid.

Soon after the unusually long walk home, Collin decided he'd continue being a "perfect gentleman" and actually walked me up to the porch.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked, soaking wet and rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Yeah." Unfortunately, I would have to see him. Even more unfortunately, I had to see him for an extra hour.

He sighed, glumly. "Well, bye." He headed down the steps and back into the pouring rain.

Without thinking, I shouted, "Hey, Collin!"

He quickly whipped around. "Yeah?" he asked, looking thrilled and surprised at the same time.

Trust me, I was just as surprised as he was, but not at all thrilled. "Uh... thanks." I said. "You know, for walking me home. And... holding the umbrella for me." Not a single drop of rain had gotten on me. Lucky for him.

He grinned a huge, happy, and obviously fake grin. "Hey, anytime. I was just returning the favor."

I felt a blush coming on, so I turned around and opened the front door. Why on Earth did I have to be so nice to someone who was such a jerk?

But was he really still a jerk?

_Yes. _I told myself, firmly. _It's all a lie. Just one big lie._


	11. Every Other Time

Collin tapped his pencil on the desk, his face screwed up in intense concentration. "Is this right, Scout?" he asked, pushing his homework paper towards me.

I gently laid down 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' down on my desk and took his paper. I checked the problem to my own and was pleasantly surprised. He'd actually gotten the correct answer.

"Yep." I told him, smiling a little. He'd been making major improvements in the week I'd been tutoring him. He seemed to understand now.

Collin grinned hugely, reminding me of a child. "Cool." I knew he was more proud of himself than he let on, but I wasn't about to say anything.

I picked my book back up and began reading. After a few minutes of silence, I frowned. I should've heard a pencil scratching. I put the book down and saw Collin looking at me, his head cocked to the side.

"What?" I asked, trying to hide my annoyance.

He looked to the book on my desk. "He still read Harry Potter?" he asked with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah." I said defensively. "And I don't care if that makes me a nerd." I'd always love Harry Potter, no matter what. It taught me so much about life and gave me something to believe in.

"Oh, no." Collin said, shaking his head. "No, I'm not making fun of you. It's just... I still read them too."

"Really?" I asked, frowning. Collin didn't seem like the type to like Harry Potter. Quite frankly, he didn't seem like the type to read.

"Yeah." he said, grinning. "Got into them a little late though." he explained. "We read the first one in my sixth grade English class. I thought they were cool."

I'd liked them since my grandmother bought me the first one for my eighth birthday. "Oh. That's cool." I said, pretending not to care.

He smiled at me and then took a quick look at the clock on the front wall. "Hey, isn't it time to leave?" he asked, frowning slightly.

I looked up at the clock myself. Sure enough, an hour had really passed. "Uh... yeah. It is." It was like the time flew by. I thought that only happened if you were having fun.

We quickly gathered up our things. I'd gone to my locker straight after class in the hopes that Collin wouldn't follow me there and then walk me home again. So, I headed straight outside. Much to my dismay, Collin was still following me. However, it wasn't raining which was one good thing.

"So..." Collin began, trying to strike up a conversation after five minutes of silence. "What's your favorite Harry Potter book?"

I didn't know what he was playing at, but I decided to answer anyway. "The fifth one." I was going to find out if he really knew Harry Potter.

"'Order of the Phoenix?'" he asked. I nodded, more than a little stunned. "That's one of my favorites, but I have to say that I like 'Chamber of Secrets' the best."

"Really?" I asked, semi-impressed. Okay, so he could spout of book names. No big deal. "That's... cool." I still wasn't buying it.

He nodded. "You... uh... have any favorite characters?" he asked me.

"Of course." I told him. "My favorite character is probably either Ron, Neville, or Luna. Tonks and Mad Eye are my favorite adult characters and Bellatrix is my favorite Death Eater. I just love to hate her."

"Cool." he said, looking thoughtful. After about a minute, he spoke again. "My favorite character is definitely Fred Weasley. Favorite adult character, hands down, is Dumbledore, but Hagrid and Mr. Weasley are pretty cool too. Don't have a favorite Death Eater, but Mundugus Fletcher is my favorite minor character."

"I loved Mundugus!" I blurted. I had to admit, Collin knew his stuff. "I was so mad when they cut him from the movie. Almost as mad as I was when they cut out Peeves!"

"Exactly!" Collin yelled, grinning. "Peeves was awesome. And then how in the fourth and fifth ones they make Neville do everything that Dobby did."

We continued our rant on how badly they messed up the Harry Potter movies all the way to my house. It was actually pretty cool. We agreed on a ton of stuff and then had fun arguing about the things we didn't agree on.

"Well, I guess I better... uh... get going." Collin said, walking me to the door. He really looked upset that our conversation was over.

I was almost going to invite him in until I came to my senses. "Yeah." I said quietly. "I... uh... guess you better."

"So... um..." Collin said, looking nervous. "See you tomorrow?"

"Of course." I nodded, crossing my arms. "I'll... see you... tomorrow." I couldn't understand why I was so suddenly uncomfortable around him. A minute ago, we'd been laughing it up.

He silently walked off the porch, gave me a quick good bye wave, and jogged up the street without so much as looking behind for even a brief second to give me a stupid smile.

I found myself watching him as he went up the road. When he disappeared from sight, I realized what I'd been doing. I quickly shook my head, hoping to clear out my brain and knock some sense back into myself.

_Jerk. Jerk. Jerk. _I chanted to myself. _Collin is a jerk. So what if he likes Harry Potter? Doesn't change what he's done._

With that thought in mind, I headed inside the house. I didn't realize how cold it was outside until the warm air in the kitchen hit me.

Mat, Mal, and Faith were running around the house, causing mass destruction and screaming at each other. Danny was sitting in his high chair, fussing and covered in some sticky, red substance. Mom was standing over the oven, her hand covering her face, waiting on some water to start boiling. She looked tired and worn out. A quick glance at the clock told me Dad wasn't due home for another hour and a half.

"Hey, Mom." I said, cheerfully. I sat my stuff on the kitchen table and walked over to her, planting a kiss on her cheek. She looked like she needed it.

"I need your help with dinner." she said in greeting. I'd had to strain to hear her because Mat, Mal, and Faith started another round of screaming at each other.

I couldn't help smiling to myself. Chaos. Something that actually made some remote sense. I could always count on chaos in my life. It was sort of like a companion I'd gotten used to over the years.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Well, you can start by..."

It was great to be home.


	12. Sick Day

After a terrible nightmare involving Toby, Collin, and loads of blood, I woke up feeling sick. I complained to Mom of a stomachache and she graciously let me stay home from school.

Truth be told, nothing was wrong with me. I just didn't feel like going to school in a sleepy stupor. So, I mostly slept all day. I was far too tired to do anything else.

The whole day all I did was fall asleep, have another nightmare, wake up in a cold sweat, and try to get back to sleep again. I was so terrified that every tiny noise I heard freaked me out. That dream had been so real.

I was so happy when Mom came into my room around three-thirty with the telephone in her hand.

"It's Harmony." she told me. "You feel up to talking, sweetie?"

I nodded my head and reached for the phone. "Thanks, Mom." I whispered, taking the phone from her.

She smiled gently and headed out of my bedroom, shutting the door softly behind her and leaving me alone.

"Hello?" I asked. I didn't even try to sound sick. I knew Harm could see through that. She saw through everything.

"Your mom said you were sick." she told me, cutting to the chase. "Are you just faking?"

I sighed. "Yes and no. Technically, I'm not sick. But, I really do feel like crap. Hence why I wasn't at school today."

There was a long pause before Harm said, "How come you haven't been walking with me after school?"

I hadn't gotten around to telling her that I was tutoring Collin. I knew she'd flip out. "I'm... well... tutoring someone in Geometry after school." I held my breath.

"Collin Main?" she asked slowly.

I took a deep, irritated breath. "If you knew, why'd you ask?"

She groaned. "Why, Scout? Why?" I didn't understand why it upset her so much. I was the one who had to work with him.

"My teacher asked me to." I explained even though I didn't feel like I had to. "I didn't really have much of a choice." It wasn't like I was letting him copy my work or anything.

Harm took a deep breath and then released it. "Look, I don't want this to turn into a fight." she said, calmly. "Just... don't let him get to you. Remember what he's done to you."

"I know." I took a huge breath. "I know, okay?"

"Okay." she said. There was another long pause before she spoke again. "I've gotta go. Karen's boyfriend is taking the two of us out. Says it's important that I come along." She pretended to gag.

"The one I met a couple of weeks ago?" I asked. Every so often Karen would get a new boyfriend. I'd known them all, but the latest one was the best by far.

"David Steeler? Yeah, that's him." She paused again. "But... yeah... I gotta go."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later." I said, hanging up the phone.

I laid back down, heaving a huge sigh. I didn't understand Harm sometimes. Why was it any of her concern whether I talked to Collin or not? It would be my decision to forgive him if I ever thought about it, not hers.

_But I'm not going to forgive him. _I told myself. _No, I... won't._

Suddenly, there was a soft knock at my door. "Scout, you have a visitor." Mom called at the closed door.

A visitor? Who in the heck could it be?

"Uh... okay." I called out, unsure. "Uh... just... let 'em in, I suppose." I burrowed deep down under the covers as the door opened.

Who should peek his head through but Collin? Holy crap. Collin Main was about to enter my pale yellow, messy bedroom while I was in bed "sick".

"Hey, Scout." he said, his head still poking through the door. "Thought I'd drop off your math homework."

"Uh... thanks." I said, sitting up a little. I stared at him for a second. "You can... uh... come in... if you... want." Frick. Why'd I do that for? Oh, right. He had to come in to give me my homework anyways.

He gave me a small smile. "Sure you aren't contagious or something?" he asked with a little chuckle.

I gave a small laugh of my own. "I'm sure. Well, unless you can catch exhaustion."

He laughed again and then slowly walked in and shut the door behind him. "Ah, so you're playing hooky, huh?"

I shrugged as he walked over towards me. "Call it what you will." I looked at the book in his hand. "Is the homework assignment long?"

He nodded his head. "It's... uh... pages 105-107 problems two through forty even." He pulled a piece of paper out of his book. "Here are my notes." he said, handing them to me. "I think you can handle them."

I took them from him and glanced over them. "Yeah, I think I can do this." I said, looking up at him. "But, can you do this?"

He took a deep breath, looking uncomfortable. "Well, I finished." he told me. "Maybe if you feel up to it tomorrow, since it's Saturday, you could come to my house and check the problems for me."

My breath caught in my throat. Go to his house? "I... uh... don't... know if..." I trailed off. Oh, no way.

"Hey," he started, talking quickly. "No, it's okay if you can't. Don't... worry. I just thought... we have a test Monday. I... thought we could review a little."

Suddenly, I felt horrible. Just plain awful. All he wanted was me to look over his work. Just a little help. "Well..." I began. "I... suppose... if you think it'll... help." I told him. "I could use a little review too."

He grinned. "If that's really what you want." he said. "I... don't want to force you into anything."

I shook my head rapidly. "No, it's fine." I told him truthfully. "I'll come over around three."

He smiled again, his whole face lighting up with joy. "Three it is."

We stared at each other for a moment. Then, suddenly, Faith burst through my bedroom door and ran straight at Collin, hugging him.

"Collin!" she yelled with delight. "Are you here to visit Scout?"

He nodded, laughing. "Dropping off her homework." He looked at me, our eyes met for a brief second, and then I looked away.

"He was... uh... getting ready to leave, Faith." I said, lying back down.

He looked at me for a second and then nodded once. "Yeah, kiddo." he said to her. "Mom'll be wondering where I am."

"Aww." Faith groaned. "Do you really have to leave?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I really do." He sounded just as disappointed as Faith did. But, his disappointment was obviously fake.

"Will you come back and visit soon?" she asked, wide eyed and hopeful. I didn't understand why the kid liked him so much.

He laughed and ruffled her hair a little. "Sure." he said, smiling. "I'll come back and visit real soon."

"Yay!" my crazy little sister cheered happily, flopping down hard on the foot of my bed. You'd think she wasn't excited.

Collin smiled again and then looked carefully at me. "So, I'll see you later, Scout." he said.

I nodded. "Goodbye, Collin." I said, trying to get him out of my bedroom and out of my house as quickly as possible.

"Bye." he said, heading out my open bedroom door and heading down the hall as slowly as he could.

I heaved a huge sigh of relief when I could no longer see his back. _Thank goodness that's over with._

Faith, who was still sitting on my bed, turned to me slowly. "I thought you said that you hated Collin."

"I do." I told her. Why was I cursed with such a nosy little sister?

"Then why were you being all nice to him?" she asked in a really annoying sing-song voice.

"It's called acting." I decided that I needed to change the subject fast. "Where are Mat and Mal?" I asked.

"Mat's playing video games in his bedroom and Mal's over at someone's house." she informed me.

So that explained why the house was so unusually quiet. "Oh." Well, now what was I supposed to do with Faith?

"Faith, where are you?" I suddenly heard my dad call. Oh, thank goodness. He'd get rid of her for me.

"Scout's room!" she called a whole lot louder than was really necessary.

I heard Dad's heavy footsteps as he came up the hall, headed for my room. I wished he'd walk a little faster. I wanted Faith out of my room.

Soon, his head poked through the door. "Scout, why was there a boy in our house a few minutes ago?"

I groaned loudly. Great. Of course he ran into Collin. Of course. "Dad. That was Collin." I explained.

He raised his eyebrows. "Isn't he the one who picked on you when you were little? The one who called you that one day when you and Harmony were babysitting Faith and Danny?" My father had the memory of an elephant. "Should I be concerned?"

I sighed heavily. "He was just dropping off my Geometry homework." Why did everyone think that meant something? He was probably forced by Ms. Middleton. (She seemed to like making sure we got our assignments.)

He eyed me carefully. "If you say so." Then he looked at Faith. "Come on, munchkin. Let's leave you sister alone."

Faith crossed her arms and made a face. "Why?"

Dad smiled mischievously at her. "Because I said so and because I made some delicious hot chocolate for you."

Faith's face instantly lit up. "With mini marshmallows?" she asked, her voice filled with happiness.

Dad shrugged, continuing to tease her. "I guess you'll just have to... find out for yourself, won't you?"

That made her squeal and jump up off my bed. "Come on, Daddy!" she shouted, pushing him. "It's hot chocolate time!"

Dad laughed and shut my door. I could hear Faith continuing to cheer for marshmallows up the hall. When that kid got started on something, there was absolutely no stopping her.

I sighed and turned my head in the direction of my window. I could see a dark shape near the woods. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that it was my protector, watching over me.

I grabbed my math book off the floor and opened it up to the page of the assignment. I needed to get started if I was going to be helping Collin the next day. At his house. Just the two of us.

_Oh, kill me now._


	13. Dirty Lies

"Cookies anyone?" Mrs. Main had been flitting in and out of the kitchen since I'd arrived. Collin and I were just studying for the test at the kitchen table. What did she think was going to happen?

"No thanks, Ma." Collin said, not even bothering to look up from his notes. He was studying hard and I was kind of proud of him for that. I was glad that he was taking this seriously.

"What about you, Scout?" she asked, holding out a blue plate piled high with delicious chocolate cookies. They were so fresh, steam was rising off them.

I looked up and smiled. She was such a sweet woman. I really liked her. "No thanks, Mrs. Main." I told her politely.

She set the plate down on the table and sighed. "Well, they're here if you kids get hungry and change your minds."

This time, Collin did look up from his work. "Are you going somewhere?" he asked his mother, frowning.

"The store." she answered, grabbing her purse off the counter. "I should be back fairly soon. Have fun and don't get into any trouble." She walked out of the kitchen and a few seconds later the front door shut.

Collin slowly turned to me and then just randomly started laughing. He was laughing so hard that his face was red and tears were staring to stream down his face.

I was highly confused. "What's so funny?" I asked him, frowning. I was slightly worried that it had something to do with me.

Collin shook his head, sucking in air. "Nothing." he said, struggling to keep a straight face. "It's just... nothing." He shook his head once more and stared back down at his paper.

I sighed, not even wanting to press the matter. I just told myself that I did not want to know what had been that funny to him. With my luck, it did have something to do with me.

"Hey, Scout?" Collin asked after a few minutes of complete and total silence. I'd found that silence never lasted long around Collin. He just couldn't allow it.

I slowly pulled myself away from my notes. "Yeah?" I asked hesitantly. I wondered what he needed my help with this time.

He took a huge breath. "Hoo. Okay." he began shakily. "I was wondering- more hoping-" He took another breath. "Scout, would you consider... going out with me? Like, on a date?"

My breath caught in my throat and my chest seized up. I couldn't breath. He couldn't have asked me out on a date. I must've heard him wrong. So, why was he looking at me expectantly?

"Scout?" he asked, waving a hand in front of my face. "Hey? Did you hear what I just asked you? Scout?" He snapped his fingers rather loudly in my ear.

I jerked a little. "Huh?" I asked, still trying to convince myself that I was mistaken, that I'd simply heard him wrong.

"I asked if you'd want to go on a date with me." he said, looking nervous. "You told me that... you talked to Brady at the dance. He told me that... he told you..."

I stopped listening after that because I couldn't breathe. I needed air. The walls were closing in on me. I hopped up and shoved my things into my backpack hastily. I needed out.

"I... have to go. Home." I said quickly. "I... uh... forgot that... I have to..." I bolted before I could even finish my sentence. I desperately needed out.

I had to go somewhere, anywhere. The woods. If I stayed really close to the edge I'd be just fine. My protector could find me if there were any vampires. Right? Right.

So, I ran for the woods. I ran and ran and ran through the trees until I didn't feel like I could run anymore. And then, I continued to run until my lungs were on fire and felt like they were going to burst.

I collapsed on the ground, hugging my knees tightly and breathing heavily. I started crying hard too. I didn't know what else to do. I felt so stupid. I'd actually thought he was okay.

How could he? Here I was, helping him in Geometry and he was still trying desperately to humiliate me. I thought that he might have changed. But, he hadn't. Why wouldn't he just stop? Hadn't I suffered enough?

Suddenly, I got one of those skin crawling feelings. You know. Like I was being watched or something. I looked up to find my protector staring at me through the trees with sad eyes.

When he saw my hurt face, he jogged towards me and then nudged my hand with his nose. He was probably checking to make sure I wasn't hurt. Well, I wasn't physically. Emotionally, mentally, I was destroyed.

I put my hand on his head and began petting him gently. He always seemed to be around whenever I needed him. I was grateful for that.

"Hey." I whispered. My voice was shaky through the tears. "How'd you find me?"

Instead of answering, he put his head on my lap and let out a whine. I think that meant that he knew I was upset. Of course, it was pretty obvious. I was crying after all.

"I'm fine." I said, trying to assure him. "Just a little upset. But, you don't really want to hear what's wrong with me." It was my own stupid fault that I'd fallen for Collin's 'nice guy' act.

He raised his head up and looked at me. Did that mean that he actually did want to hear what was wrong with me?

I sighed and wiped my eyes. "Okay, I'll tell you." I said, continuing to pet him absently. "This jerk at my school asked me on a date. He's... trying to humiliate me. I just know it."

My protector shook his head and licked me on the cheek. I didn't think he believed me. He probably thought I was being silly. Well, I was talking to a wolf.

"I'm serious." I told him. "He used to pick on me all the time when we were little. This whole thing is a joke." I started crying harder. I couldn't understand why though.

He sat up and I wrapped my arms around his large, furry neck. I sobbed into him. He was so warm. It made me realize how freezing cold I was. I should've worn a jacket or something.

I hated Collin with a burning passion. I couldn't figure out why he made me so upset. Maybe it was because we had actually been getting along and then he decided to go back to being the world's biggest jerk.

"I should've known." I sniffled. I hated sounding all snotty. It grossed me out to no end. :He was being way too nice. It was all just... one huge lie." Why did I think it was anything but that?

Suddenly, I heard three wolves howling somewhere off in the distance. My protector howled back at them and then turned to look at me. It looked like he was asking my permission to leave.

I nodded. They needed him far more than I did from the sound of it. "Go ahead." I told him, standing up. "I'll be okay. I'll just... head on home."

He gave me one last sad, reluctant glance and then ran after his friends. I was glad that at least one of us was happy. It made me feel a bit better.

As soon as he was gone, I picked up my backpack and started for home. I hoped that no one would ask me where I had been. I really wasn't in the mood for questioning.


	14. Tests

"Scout? Scout? Hey! Are you even listening?"

"Huh?" It was lunchtime on Monday and I was so zoned out. I was so far gone I hadn't even been aware that Harm was even sitting next to me. Her voice had actually startled me.

"I was telling you what happened at dinner on Friday." she said, giving me a strange look. I always listened to everything she had to say, ready to give advice if it was needed.

"Oh." I said shortly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "So... how'd it go?" I was eager to leave my own head for a while.

Harm stared at me for a second as if she was deciding whether or not she should bother to answer my question or not. In the end, she did. "Well, I already told you what happened." she replied smartly.

I groaned. "I'm sorry." I told her sincerely. "I'm just so..." I trailed off. I wasn't exactly sure how to finish that sentence. "Would you mind telling me again?"

She took a drink of water before responding. I knew it was all on purpose. That was Harm's way. "David asked Karen to marry him."

My eyes almost popped out of my head. "That's wonderful!" I exclaimed. Karen really did deserve someone. She was such a good person. She gave up a lot to raise her niece.

Harm rolled her eyes at my excitement. "If you say so." she said. "You know perfectly well what I think of marriage."

I sighed. Harm was such a cynic. "It's pointless, they're just going to get a divorce anyway, blah, blah, and more blah." Harm was one of those people who didn't believe love existed.

She nodded her head. "Right." She took a bite of apple and continued. "So, she said she would. Now they just have to plan everything."

The idea of weddings always got me really excited. I couldn't wait until it was my turn. To walk down that aisle. To feel like a princess. The idea of a day entirely for me and my true love. However, I had to fall in love first.

"You never told me about your weekend." Harm said, interrupting my daydreaming. "What were you up to?"

Stalling, I took a huge swig of water. After an overly dramatic swallow, I answered. "I studied for a math test we're having today on Saturday with Collin."

Harmony rolled her eyes. "Translation: You made cheat sheets for Collin while he watched TV or something stupid like that."

I shook my head. "Actually, he really did study on his own. He may actually get an A." I didn't know why Harm thought the worst of Collin. She didn't really know him.

She shrugged indifferently. "Anything else happen? Anything interesting?"

"Well..." I began, screwing up my face as I thought. "Faith got a hamster and Mat got a lizard, Collin asked me out, and I learned how to make meatloaf." I said in a hurry, hoping she wasn't paying too much attention.

Unfortunately, she had been. "What was that, Scout?" she asked me.

"I... learned how to make meatloaf." I said sheepishly. "It's actually not as hard as you'd think."

Harm rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Uh... no. I actually meant that thing before. You know, that little thing about Collin?"

I sighed. I really didn't feel like having this conversation with her. "Well, he... uh... asked me out on Saturday." Harm began groaning, so I hastily added, "But I ran out of there."

She put a hand to her head, like she had a migraine. "Scout." she muttered. "You should've outright said no. Now he's just going to ask again."

It was my turn to groan. "Why did he ask me out? I really don't understand." It seemed a strange way to humiliate someone.

Harm let out a breath. "I can only come up with one reason." She paused for a moment. "No, he's not smart enough to pull that off."

"What?" I asked curiously. I knew Collin a little better than Harm now. Maybe he was smart enough to pull off whatever she thought was an option.

"Never mind." she said shaking her head. "Look, Scout." she said, placing her hand on mine. "If he asks you out again, you've got to turn him down flat."

I was suddenly getting a weird vibe. I just nodded absently. I was confused on so many different levels. My thoughts were so jumbled. Why had Collin asked me out?

I thought about that through the rest of lunch and third block. I couldn't come up with anything except that he actually liked me and that was just ludicrous.

When the bell rang for fourth block, I was freaking out and not about the test we had to take. I practically ran to class. I entered the room before anyone else and sat down in my seat, watching as other kids filed in.

Collin walked into the classroom seconds before the bell rang. He glanced at me, blushed, and quickly sat in his seat, not looking at me anymore. What the heck?

Soon, the bell rang and Ms. Middleton began passing out our tests. I took one look at mine and almost laughed. It was all so easy. I knew I'd finish in no time at all.

My prediction came true. It only took me half an hour to take my test. I still had an entire hour of class left. I made my way over to Ms. Middleton's desk and handed her my paper.

She glanced at it, smirking. "I think I have an A+ paper here." she whispered so low that I could barely hear her.

I smiled and walked back to my desk. Everyone around me had frustrated looks on their faces. They kept erasing, punching in numbers on their calculator, scribbling something down, and erasing again. I shook my head and continued to read my Harry Potter book.

I'd only read five pages when there was a rustling of paper and the sound of someone standing up. I looked up to see Collin heading to the teacher's desk. He was finished already?

Ms. Middleton seemed surprised too. She whispered something to Collin and he replied. She frowned at him and then motioned for him to go back to his seat.

It seemed to me that Ms. Middleton thought Collin had cheated. I knew he hadn't. He knew that material almost as well as I did. I decided that I would vouch for him if I needed to.

I went back to my book. I barely read a page this time, when Ms. Middleton called me up to her desk. I knew she didn't think I helped Collin cheat. Still, my heart pounded in my chest as I made my way up to the desk.

"Yes, Ms. Middleton?" I asked tentatively. I didn't know why I felt so nervous. I wasn't going to be in trouble or anything.

"First," she began, smiling. It made me feel so much better. Smiling was a good sign. "I wanted to congratulate you on your one hundred percent."

I knew I had done well. "Thank you." I told her. "It was pretty easy." I knew there was more to this. She wouldn't have called me up to her desk just to tell me what I already figured for myself.

She nodded. "Now, for the other reason I called you up here." Her voice had taken a more serious tone. "You've been tutoring Collin, yes?"

I nodded my head. I knew she already knew that. I knew what that meant. She thought he was cheating. No. She thought he had cheated.

"I thought you should be up here for this." she told me. She then looked out at the class. "Collin, could you come here please?"

Collin slowly got up. He looked nervous. My own nervous feeling had returned. Collin didn't deserve to be accused of cheating. He had studied hard. I knew that.

"Yeah?" he asked, sounding like I had when I had come up to the desk. I got a desire to reach out and reassuringly take his hand, but I quickly snapped myself out of it when Ms. Middleton spoke.

"It's about your test." She still had that serious tone in her voice. However, she broke into a smile. "You should be proud of your ninety-six percent."

"Seriously?" Collin asked, looking thunderstruck.

"That's awesome!" I whisper-shouted. I spontaneously threw my arms around him in a hug even though we were in the middle of class. I quickly pulled away, blushing. What had that been?

Ms. Middleton smiled. "So, I don't think the tutoring sessions are necessary unless Collin is really having trouble with something."

I felt like I'd been going downstairs and I suddenly missed a step. Why though? I should've been happy. I should've been ecstatic. I would no longer have to be around Collin. That wasn't the way I felt at all though.

Thoughts were buzzing around in my head and I barely registered Ms. Middleton telling Collin and me to go on back to our seats while everyone else finished their tests.

What was wrong with me? Was I starting to fall for Collin the jerk face, the kid who had made my childhood miserable?


	15. Thoughts, Thunder, And Time

It was almost one in the morning when I heard my protector howling somewhere outside. I had been up all night, waiting for him to make his presence known. I was feeling confused and knew that talking to him could somehow help. I wasn't sure how since he couldn't talk, but it would at least make me feel better.

I slipped on my jacket and looked around my room. I'd realized that I'd run into a slight problem. How was I supposed to get outside without waking anyone in the house up?

I turned to my window and sighed, knowing that it was my only option. I crossed to the other side of my room, opened the window as quietly as I could, and slipped out without hurting myself.

The ground was cold and I found myself wishing I'd had the sense to wear shoes. The air was also chilly, so I pulled my jacket closer to my body as I walked through the yard. A clap of thunder and a flash of lightning foretold of an oncoming storm.

I walked to the edge of my yard and peered out into the woods. I couldn't see anything, but I could hear a rustling. I was scared for a moment, thinking it was a vampire. However, two bright eyes shone through the trees as my protector appeared. He sniffed me to make sure I was okay.

After he was sure I was fine, he sat down and stared up at me with those big, brown eyes, looking expectant. It was as if he knew I needed to tell him something. I once heard animals had strange intuition like that.

I sat down next to him and wondered what I was going to say. I felt ashamed of bothering him with my petty problems. Then I felt silly for being ashamed of bothering him. Then I felt even more silly that I was even talking to him as though he could understand me. I mean, I knew he did, but it still seemed crazy.

He nudged my knee with his nose, bringing me out of the conversation going on inside my head. I could tell he wanted to know what was wrong with me already. I knew he could sense something was up.

I took a huge breath. It was time to get all of that out before I exploded. "Remember that jerk I was telling you about? Well, I think I might actually like him. Really like him, I mean."

My protector's ears pricked up at this as if he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. I could hardly believe I'd said those awful words myself. It was true though. I was actually starting to really like him.

"Yeah, I know." I muttered sadly. "I've gone 'round the twist' you might say." I folded my arms across my chest. "It's just sometimes... he can be the sweetest person in the world. However, most of the time he's the biggest jerk on the planet."

The wolf made a little pitiful whining noise and looked up at me sadly. I looked in those eyes and felt... something. Sadness probably seeing as how he looked so upset and hurt. It was probably because, on the inside, that was how I felt. He could sense it.

"Sometimes... I actually think about forgiving him for what he did." I admitted, staring up at the pitch black sky. "What he did seems so... stupid now."

Taking a deep breath, I decided to speak about what happened that fateful day. Maybe that would help me decide what was right. Maybe that would put me at peace.

"It was after school one day back when I was... eleven or so. Close to summer, I think. I went home to drop off my backpack and get an ice cream before heading down to the beach." I chuckled, remembering. "It was mint chocolate chip with a dark chocolate cone. My favorite."

I paused, thinking of how to continue. It had happened so long ago. "Harm came with me. She saw Collin, Brady, and their friends and wanted to leave. I convinced her to stay and look for shells with me while I finished eating my ice cream. Not five minutes later, they spotted us."

I closed my eyes, willing my mind to pull out the memory. Soon, it was as if I was back in that time. It felt like I was there watching it all from a distance.

"Collin led them over to us. He was the ringleader. He started calling us names I think. I told him to... to bugger off. He asked if that was more of my 'stupid Harry Potter talk'. 'It's not real.' he had said. I tried to ignore him, but he just kept making fun of me.

"All of his friends started laughing and I began crying. Harm dared Collin to say one more word. He pushed me instead. Ice cream went everywhere. I was covered in it. Harm bent down to help me. I was kicked from behind and fell face first into sand. Harm jumped up, punched Collin in the eye, and then screamed at him for a good three minutes or so. She helped me home, cursing Collin the whole way. Next day, he had a black eye and stayed away from me."

I had almost forgotten all of that. The things he said, the way he looked at me as if I were scum, the hurt, the laughter... It was all too much.

Was I really considering forgiving him after all that? Okay, it was stupid and childish to hold a grudge over something that was... well, stupid and childish. However, something kept nagging at me. Some part of me couldn't imagine ever forgiving him.

Lightning flashed dangerously across the sky, lighting up my whole backyard. The wolf looked at me, confused. It was like his face reflected the way I felt. I was torn. To forgive or not to forgive? That was the question.

"He wants to be my friend. He thinks I can just forget..." I didn't know where I was going with this. "I can't forgive him. Not until he gives me a reason to." I decided, getting to my feet. But what would be a good enough reason?

My protector remained on the ground, his head on his paws, looking thoroughly depressed. I guessed that he saw how upset I was and that it was making him upset.

"I'll be fine." I promised him. I looked towards the black sky once again as thunder loudly rumbled. It could start raining any second. "Get on home." I told the wolf. "You don't want to get stuck in this storm."

He let out a whine as he stood up and headed for the deep, dark woods, looking back only once before he disappeared. As I watched him go, a few drops of rain hit me.

"Crap!" I yelled, running for my window. Once I had made it all the way across the yard, I climbed inside and slammed the window shut seconds before the downpour hit.

I crawled into my bed as the rain beat down on the roof and the thunder grumbled and the lightning cracked. It was oddly peaceful. I leaned back onto my pillow and felt something inside.

Curious, I stuck my hand inside the pillowcase and grabbed a book that was concealed inside. I pulled it out and discovered it was the journal my mother had given me. I looked out the window, seeing the outline of my protector. Mom had begged me to use it. Why not? I couldn't always rely on seeing the wolf when no one was around.

I reached under my bed and pulled out my backpack. I dug around until I found a pencil and then sat back up, thinking of what to write and how to put it all down in words. I'd never really done this before.

_I have a secret._ I wrote, my hand shaking for some reason. If anyone ever found this...

_I'm followed by a large wolf with red fur. I call him my protector. I have discovered he is one of the wolves from the legends of my people. He is here to protect us all from the Cold Ones. He has seemed to develop an attachment to me. I am not afraid of him. He actually makes me feel safe. _

I took a deep breath, looking over what I had written. It was the truth. I supposed it didn't sound that way though. That was good. If my siblings happened upon it, they'd think I was just writing a story.

_I tell him everything. I am convinced he understands me. Even if he doesn't, it still helps when I speak with him. It gets all of my thoughts out._

I put my pencil down, exhausted. I needed sleep. I'd write more later. I'd have plenty of time later on since I was no longer tutoring Collin in geometry. That was the last thing I thought of as I drifted off to sleep.


	16. Help Me, I've Gone Mental!

_So, I figured out why I cannot forgive Collin Main even though what he did to me was stupid and happened a long time ago. I cannot forgive him because Harm won't. She's been my best friend forever. I don't want to lose her, so I can't be his friend. Her friendship means way more to me. Still..._

Over the next couple of weeks Collin carefully avoided me. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that. I actually tried not to think about it all that much. For some reason, it bothered me.

I was beyond confused. Was he trying to humiliate me or not? Did he simply just want to be friend as he kept saying? If that was all he wanted, then why had he asked me out?

I finally got my answer after school one Friday in early November. I had been sitting outside in the cold waiting for Faith to get off the bus since Mom and Dad weren't home.

Collin simply showed up with two ice creams in his hands. They were both mint chocolate chip with a dark chocolate cone. He sat down next to me on the porch and held out an ice cream. "I come in peace." he said, looking wary.

I frowned, taking the ice cream. It had to be purely coincidental. It just had to be. "Ice cream in November?" I asked, suspiciously. "It's freezing out here." I was in my huge white winter coat. Collin was in a lightweight grey jacket. Was he insane?

He shrugged, licking his frozen treat. "I just thought you might like some ice cream."

I looked at him incredulously. "You haven't talked to me in weeks and now you're giving me ice cream?" This made no sense at all.

He simply nodded. "Well, yeah. I've been thinking and... I wanted to make up for what I did to you down at the beach when we were kids. You know, when I ruined your ice cream. I thought maybe if I got the same kind..." he trailed off.

"You think it was all about ruined ice cream?" I shouted, throwing the cone on the ground. I was finally going to get everything out. "You humiliated me! I got sand in my face thanks to you!"

"Brady was the one who kicked you from behind." he said, quietly. Instead of looking at me he looked at the ice cream on the ground. "I just wanted to show you that I really am sorry. I asked you out because I truly like you, not as some kind of plot to embarrass you." He stood up, looked down at me, and said, "It's not... I'm not trying to get revenge for Harmony punching my eye."

I just stared at him. I didn't know what to say or to do. He seemed sincere, yet Harm's voice was still nagging me in the back of my mind. She was screaming at me to tell him to go away and leave me alone.

"Here." he said, handing me his ice cream which I took without realizing. "I'm sorry for bothering you." He turned around and started walking across the street. This was my last chance to say something.

"Wait!" I shouted, my arm stretched out, my decision made. "Collin, wait!" I knew I only had minutes before Faith's bus would pull in front of the house to drop her off.

"What?" he asked, turning around to face me. There was hope in his eyes. I couldn't stay silent any longer.

"One date." I told him, my voice echoing in the quiet. "I'll give you one date. Only one. Tomorrow." I didn't know why I was giving him this. I just felt it was something I had to do.

His face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Really? You mean it? You'll give me a chance?"

I was a little taken aback by his enthusiastic reaction. "Yeah."

"You won't regret it." he said, grinning from ear to ear. "I'll pick you up at seven." He headed up the road and I swore I heard him humming.

Suddenly, Faith's bus came rumbling down the street. It pulled up in front of the house, the brakes giving a piercing squeal. I coughed and shut my eyes, the fumes from the exhaust engulfing me.

Faith hopped down the steps, her ponytail bouncing. She smiled at me as the bus pulled out, rumbling again. "Hiya, Scout." she said, gleefully.

Suddenly, I was pulled into the world of a second grader. Faith told me all her problems while she ate the ice cream I handed her. I only half listened. I was too busy thinking about my date with Collin. What had I gotten myself into?


	17. Closer To Insanity

I stared at the top half of my reflection in the bathroom mirror and sighed. I looked really nice, sadly. Mom had curled my long, dark hair and put it up into a ponytail. (She was the only one who knew that I was going on a date with Collin.) I was wearing a long sleeved burgundy shirt, skinny jeans, and a pair of brown snow boots. I looked so pretty that it was sickening.

As I stood, staring into the mirror, thinking of a million excuses to get out of going, a soft knock came on the bathroom door. "Scout," My mother's voice was gentle as she coaxed me out. "Collin's here."

My stomach dropped to somewhere around my knees. I took a deep breath and slowly pulled open the door. I could hear the blood pounding in my ears. My heart was beating so hard that it made my chest hurt. Breathing was also painful.

"Don't be nervous." Mom whispered in my ear as she followed me down the hall. I knew she was trying to comfort me. "Just enjoy yourself." Yes, as if that was at all possible.

I fought my way through the sea of shoes in the hall, grabbed my big, white coat off the hook on the wall, and slipped it on. Through the small window cut into the door, I caught Collin peering in at me. I quickly shifted my gaze to the door knob that my hand seemed almost frozen to as if I was holding onto it for dear life.

_Don't be scared. _I told myself firmly. _It'll be just fine. _I turned the knob and pushed open the door, the piercingly cold night air hitting me full in the face and taking my breath away.

"Hey." Collin said, kicking at a leaf with the toe of his shoe while I stepped out onto the porch and shut the door behind me. I had been hoping Mom would have at least seen me out. No such luck.

"Hi." I answered back awkwardly. I glanced around the yard, desperate for some kind of escape. "So... uh..." I looked back at him, noticing he was, once again, wearing a grey lightweight jacket. "Aren't you freezing?"

"Huh?" he asked, breaking out of a reverie. "Oh! Uh... not really. I... uh... don't get cold that easily." he answered quickly. A little too quickly.

"Okay..." I said, skeptically. "So, where exactly are we headed to for this date or whatever?" I shoved my hands into my pockets, trying to warm them. How was he not shivering in that thin jacket?

"My house." he answered automatically. "I figured we could... um... talk or... listen to music." Yeah. Right. That was all he wanted to do. Sure. Did he think I was born yesterday?

"Um... sounds good. I guess." I just wanted someone to end my misery by shooting me in the face or something. I wanted out. Why, oh why, had I agreed to this insanity?

We stood around on my porch for a minute. When I realized he wasn't going to be the first one to move, I started walking mechanically, putting one foot in front of the other. Collin followed me, his arms swinging by his sides, occasionally brushing my arm or leg.

There was a long, uncomfortable, uninterrupted silence as we walked all the way to his house and then down into his furnished basement where we were going to be spending the evening.

I gingerly sat on the edge of an armchair and took my coat off, placing it behind my back. Collin flopped on the worn couch, kicking his tennis shoes off into the floor where they landed with a thud.

We sat there, staring awkwardly at each other. I was determined not to open my mouth once the whole night. I would sit there in that chair, thinking to myself until he decided to take me on home.

After about five minutes, Collin reached over to the end table next to the couch and turned on the radio. Music softly floated around the room. He was obviously compensating for the silence. I leaned back in the chair, ready for an hour of quiet.

"So..." Collin's voice rang out across the room. He was trying to make conversation. "I was rereading the fifth 'Harry Potter' book and there's something that confuses me."

He paused to allow me to say something. When he realized I wasn't going to, he trudged on. "It was when Malfoy tried to dock points from Hermione on the day he became a member of the Inquisitorial Squad. Ernie said prefects couldn't dock points. It's just... I remembered- in the second one- Percy took points from Gryffindor when he found Ron coming out of a girls' bathroom."

I sighed. I couldn't stay silent about Harry Potter. I suspected Collin knew that which was why he'd brought it up. "What Ernie actually said was that prefects can't dock points from other prefects."

"Oh." Collin said, understanding. "That makes much more sense." He went quiet and for a moment I thought he'd given up on talking. I should've known better. "What about Bill getting attacked by Greyback? Why didn't he turn into a werewolf?"

"He wasn't attacked during a full moon."

"And Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him because...?"

"He knew he was dying anyways."

"Now, what are the five principal exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration?" he asked, his face screwed up as he thought. "One's money, another's food, and the rest are...?"

"Intentional curse damage, bringing human beings back from the dead, and the fifth's believed to be emotions such as love." I said without skipping a beat even though I hadn't been expecting such an... unusual question.

He nodded his head. "Because love potions don't really create love. Just infatuation. That's how Voldemort's mother got with Tom Riddle Sr. Isn't that right?"

I smiled. He really was pretty smart. "Yeah. She stopped giving him potion after a while though. She thought that maybe he might actually love her without it."

"But he left." he whispered. "He left her all alone. He went back home, back to his family and everything."

Our conversation continued. We deeply discussed a wide variety of things in our favorite series. I'd even moved over to the couch. It was surprisingly nice. Comfortable even. Strangely pleasant in fact.

Suddenly, there came a pause in our conversation. For the first time since we began talking, I heard the radio. "...'Two Is Better Than One' by Boys Like Girls featuring Taylor Swift'." The song immediately followed.

It was then that I first noticed how closely Collin and I were sitting on that couch. I looked into his eyes and got that sense of familiarity and comfort that I couldn't explain. I felt my cheeks warm up.

"... and maybe two is better than one..."

The single stupidest thought in the entire world popped into my brain at that moment. _Get closer. _I unconsciously listened to the thought and scooted even closer to him.

Collin continued to stare at me and I at him. We both sat rigid and still. We breathed in unison. In and out. In and out. It had a sort of rhythm. In and out. In and out.

"... two is better than one..."

What would it be like if I...? No. I couldn't kiss him. That would be just plain ridiculous. Ludicrous. Absolutely laughable to say the least. Wouldn't it? Or would it...

Something happened then. I think I lost all common sense because I closed my eyes and leaned towards him. I felt the tip of his nose brush the bridge of mine. We both sharply drew in a breath. This was it. I was about to do the unthinkable.

Just as I was about to lose what was left of my mind completely, Harm's voice broke through my brain. _NO!_ She screamed with such fury. _NO! NO! NO!_

I pulled back quickly and opened my eyes. "I can't." I muttered to myself. "I... I... can't. I j-just... can't."

"Scout, are you... are you okay?" Collin asked softly. He placed an unusually warm, rough hand on my cheek.

I shied away from him, causing him to pull his hand back. I closed my eyes again. "I... can't." I repeated, my voice shaky and unnaturally high-pitched. "This isn't... Take me home. Now."

"Sure thing." Collin said, sounding a mite upset. "Yeah, I'll take you home right now." I felt him get off the couch and thrust something soft in my hand: my coat. "Just put that on first."

I nodded absentmindedly as I pulled the coat on. I stood up, my legs feeling like pudding. I couldn't believe what I'd almost done. What had I been thinking? No, why hadn't I been thinking?

Collin walked me home. We went back to being silent. I didn't look at him even once. If he looked at me, I never knew. I suspect he might have. At least once.

He walked me up to the front door. "Scout..." he said, speaking for the first time since he'd handed me my big coat. "I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to..."

I sighed heavily. I didn't want to speak to him, but I knew I had to say something. "Goodbye, Collin." I pulled open the door and walked inside, leaving him alone out in the cold, dark night.


	18. Raging Storm

Monday brought the first snow of the year. I'd woken up feeling cold and thoroughly miserable. It seemed that it was just going to be one of those rotten days. It was because of this that I was dreading going to school.

Well, there was also another reason. I'd come to the conclusion that I would have to avoid Collin. I couldn't face him. I had been so willing to kiss him and then I had chickened out.

Part of my mind saw the whole thing as a betrayal to Harmony. Another part of my mind could've cared less what she thought. It was my life. I could like and dislike whomever I pleased. I could also kiss whomever too. It was not for her to decide for me.

I didn't understand why Harm hated him so much anyway. He never did anything to her. He'd only humiliated me. If I was so ready to forgive him, why wasn't she? This thought puzzled me for the vast majority of the day. I pondered it all day, unable to come up with a logical reason.

I got my opportunity to confront Harm about it on the walk home from school. I realized that, subconsciously, I'd been planning the discussion all morning at school.

"So," I began rather nervously. I knew Harm wasn't going to take this question very well. "Just out of curiosity, why do you hate Collin so much? I mean, he never bothered you. Just me." She stopped walking and I did too. Then I waited for the explosion to happen.

It didn't.

Harm was eerily calm when she spoke. "I loathe him because he was messing with you. I mean, you are my best friend." She didn't look at me when she said that. She became preoccupied with a rock that she had started kicking. At the time, I thought nothing of it. Later, however, it made me wonder.

"Ah." I said, her reason quite clear. That was what I had thought. "So, hypothetically, if I forgave him then you would too?"

"No." She gave a chuckle. "But you couldn't possibly consider forgiving him. Not after everything he did to you. Not after he made your life hell when we were kids. You'd have to be daft."

I dwelled on that a moment. Why though? Why would I have to be crazy to forgive him? I thought that was what people were supposed to do. I thought that was the way of the world. It was what I'd always been taught anyway. Why was Harm so bent on holding a grudge against Collin?

An unnatural silence fell between the two of us as we started walking again. I started to feel guilty for even mentioning Collin. I decided that I would simply ignore him whenever I saw him. I'd ignore the feeling of my heart struggling to get out of my chest whenever I caught his eyes. My friendship with Harm meant way more to me.

_It's for the best. _I told myself even though the thought actually made me want to cry. _He never really liked me anyway. It was a joke. _No matter how much I told myself that, I couldn't force myself to believe it.

Why did I like him so much anyway? I couldn't place it. All I knew was that, for some reason, he made me feels safe. When did I start liking him so much? I couldn't say for sure. How did it happen? That one was easy. It just did.

I caught Harm giving me a look out of the corners of her eyes when we were a block away from home. "What?" I asked, suddenly feeling very annoyed with her.

She shrugged, still kicking that stupid rock. "It's nothing." She stopped short and turned to face me. "Just thought you'd tell me, your best friend, that you've been seeing Collin behind my back."

I felt like I'd been slapped in the face. Now Harm's chuckle after my 'hypothetical' question made perfect sense. It had been a sarcastic laugh. A disbelieving laugh.

"What are you talking about?" Like any liar, I denied that I was lying. "I haven't talked to Collin since I stopped tutoring him."

"Oh, sure." The sarcasm dripped from her voice like poison. "That's why I saw him at your house on Friday giving you ice cream."

I'd been found out. I'd forgotten that my front yard was visible through Harm's kitchen window. Who knew what else she saw?

"And if you're going to try to weasel out of that one," she said noting the look on my face. "I overheard your mom telling Karen that you had a date with him on Saturday."

Darn my mother. I'd specifically told her not to tell anyone, least of all Karen or Harm. I had begged and pleaded with her. I told her Harm wouldn't understand. I guess she hadn't really been listening.

"Just one date." I admitted, red faced. "It was to get him to shut up and leave me alone." I didn't want Harm angry with me, but it looked like that was where this whole ordeal was heading.

Harmony made a thoroughly disgusted sound. "So, you didn't enjoy yourself, did you?" I thought she looked rather hopeful.

I was going to tell her I hadn't when I changed my mind mid-word. "N-yeah. Yeah, I actually did have a pretty nice time with Collin."

Fury flashed through Harm's features. "Really?" she asked, her teeth gritted. "So, you're dating him now, I suppose? You've turned into one of 'those' girls, have you?"

I glared at her. By 'those' girls she meant an idiotic bubble head who need a boyfriend like normal people need oxygen. Girls like Grace Berry who were shallow, stupid, and annoying.

"Well?" she asked, impatiently.

I frowned. "No, I am not dating him." I said evenly. "However, if I was, that would be my choice and not yours."

Harm snorted as if she found what I said funny. Not very smart on her part. I was not in the mood for stupid crap like that.

"You know, I'm sick of you trying to control my life." I told her, rage burning in the pit of my stomach. "I have a brain. I can make up my own mind and forgive anyone I... damn well please." I put unnecessary emphasis on the curse word.

"I've been there for you forever!" she yelled. If Harm had been the type of person to cry, tears would've been streaming down her cheeks. "You're gonna throw that all away for a guy? You'd betray your best friend for a jerk who tortured you for years?"

That was all I could handle. I ran in the direction of home as fast as my legs could carry me. Not a single tear fell. I wouldn't cry. Not just then anyway.

I knew what I would do. I would turn to the only friend I had left. I would talk to Collin and let him comfort me. I'd even let myself kiss him. I wouldn't let Harm see how miserable losing her friendship would make me. I'd fall hard and fast for Collin Main. I'd force myself to be happy. I'd force myself to forget.

I promptly burst into tears at these thoughts. What was wrong with me?


	19. This Ain't A Fairytale

My days through the remainder of November were pretty lonely ones. Sure, I had Collin to talk to but I hardly saw him at school. I sat all by myself at lunch, scribbling things down in my journal. It was a comfort to me. It was like a friend that I could share my feelings with.

Every where I went, people whispered about me. I didn't know what they were saying nor did I care very much. I was in my own world most of the time. I liked it better that way.

Even though I thought about using Collin to make Harm really angry, I couldn't do that to him. I really just wasn't ready for dating. Too much was going on. Besides that, I didn't know if I actually liked him or if I just thought I did.

I was contemplating that very thing as I was walking home from school. Collin hadn't been in Geometry class, but I wasn't too worried. He had just gotten sick or something. It was flu season after all. I didn't need to worry about vampires.

I had just turned the corner of my street when I saw Collin running towards me in nothing but a pair of jean shorts. There was snow on the ground for crying out loud! What was he thinking? Or, not thinking rather.

"Collin!" I shouted, running at him.

"Scout, I need to talk to you." he said as he met me in the middle of the road. "It's really important." I could see the urgency in his eyes. I decided to not even ask why he hadn't been in school.

"Sure." I said. I had to get him warm somehow. He'd catch his death out in the freezing cold November air. What was so important that he couldn't have put on some warm clothes before he had to come rushing after me? "We can go to my house."

He shook his head furiously. "No. Your mom and brothers are home. This is private." He peered at something over my head. "Let's go into the woods." he said, grabbing my gloved hand.

"What?" I asked, flabbergasted. "You... you don't have any clothes on! You'll catch your death you idiot!" I yelled at him.

"Doesn't matter now." he said, dragging me towards the woods. "Just come on. I'll be fine."

I followed him into the woods, not really having much of a choice. He dragged me along effortlessly. I mean, I knew he was strong but I never ever imagined that he was that strong.

"Collin, what is this about?" I asked as he started pulling me through the woods. It was almost as if he knew where he was going.

"Shh." he whispered to me. "I don't know if the guys are out here. I mean, they want me to talk to you about this, but I don't want them around to hear when I do."

He stopped moving a moment and gazed around the trees. When he was sure no one was around us, he started leading me further into the wood. I was getting a little worried.

"Just a bit further." he said, looking at me over his shoulder. He looked nervous. I was curious as to why. It didn't make any sense to me.

Finally, Collin stopped and let go of my arm. I felt a sense of relief. He'd been gripping it so tightly that it had gone completely numb. I shook it out a little bit and got a smidge of feeling back.

"What is all of this about then?" I asked. Before Collin had a chance to answer, I heard a long, low howl. I froze up. My protector couldn't come. Collin wouldn't understand. He'd try to hurt him.

"Why don't we just go to my house?" I asked, panicking. "I'm sure I can get Mom and the others out of the house. Or we could go to your house." I was desperate to get him out of there before the wolf showed up.

Collin chuckled, shaking his head. "It's not him, Scout. You don't have to worry about that."

"Who?" I asked, genuinely confused. What was he going on about?

He gaped at me, realizing he said something that he shouldn't have. He let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair. "Your protector. It's not him. It's... another wolf."

He knew. How though? How could he possibly know that? Not just that I had a protector but that it wasn't him howling? I couldn't even tell that!

"What are you talking about?"

Collin let out another sigh. "A wolf saved you from a vampire not too long ago. You call him your protector and you two have a bond. He's got reddish fur, he's huge, and you think he's a wolf from the legends."

"How...?"

"It's me." he whispered. "I'm the wolf. I'm your protector. I scared that vampire away. I've saved you a dozen other times, you just never knew." He looked really upset. "I knew I'd tell you one day, but-"

"Wait." I said, stopping him as something clicked in my brain. "That means that everything I told my protector... I actually told you." Brilliant. Just brilliant.

He walked close to me and placed a very warm hand to my cheek. "Yeah and that's what I want to talk to you about. There's more I need to tell you. Loads more. I don't know where to start."

Snow started falling slowly to Earth. I began to shiver. "Please, explain this to me." I begged him. "I want to understand."

He heaved a sigh. "The first day of school when you dropped your pencil in Geometry class... we locked eyes. I imprinted on you, Scout. I realized that I... love you."

My breath caught in my throat. "Imprint? Love? What... what are you... ?" I trailed off unable to say anything. I took a deep breath and started again. "You can't be serious, Collin." We were teenagers. He couldn't really be in love with me.

"Let me explain." he told me calmly, holding up a hand. "Imprinting is sort of like never ending love. I can never hurt you. It would hurt me. All the wolves go through it eventually. We used to think it was rare."

"What does it actually mean?" I asked him, confused. Was he making this stuff up or what?

"You're my soul mate." he stated simply.

Soul mate? Oh, no. "And I have no say in this whatsoever?" I asked, dumbfounded. "I'm just supposed to accept this and go along with the whole thing whether I like it or not?"

Collin tilted his head. "No, you can choose to say no. It's just... most imprints don't. They can't ignore that kind of devotion. They usually say yes from the start."

Well, not me. "No. It's entrapment. Two people forced to be together." I gasped as something clicked in my head. "That's the whole reason you apologized to me. If you hadn't imprinted on me you'd either still be torturing me or you'd me ignoring me." I should've known.

"No, Scout. It's not like that at all." Collin said, reaching his hand out to touch my face again.

I drew back as quickly as I could. "Don't touch me! Jerk!" It was all too good to be true. I knew he was being too nice. Harm had been right. I'd defended him and she'd been right about him the whole time.

"Scout, imprinting isn't creepy. I know it sounds that way." he told me, trying to get me to understand. "Heck, I thought it sounded that way. I was wrong though. It's something beautiful and amazing. I found that out when I looked at you."

It sounded so beautiful, like something out of a fairytale. I learned a long time ago that fairytales weren't real. Sure, I still liked them, but I knew they would never ever come true.

"Scout, please." Collin begged, his eyes sad and old looking. "I'll always be here for you. I'll do whatever you ask me to do."

"Anything?"

"Yes?"

"Leave me alone." I said, turning on my heels and sobbing. I ran for home as fast as I could. I knew he wasn't following me. He would've caught me if he was. He seemed to be respecting my wishes.

What had I done?


	20. Broken

Two day after the incident in the woods with Collin, I decided to have a little talk with Harmony. I really just wanted my best friend back. I couldn't stand being by myself anymore. I just wanted this whole thing over with.

After school, I took a shortcut through the woods to ensure that I would make it home way before Harm. I didn't want to give her the chance to slam the door in my face or to just not answer me.

I sat on her front porch steps in the bitter cold to block her from entering without talking to me. I knew Harm wouldn't like that one little bit. She'd probably scream and yell at me until I moved or until Karen came home and then I had to get up. However, I had to try to make her listen and this was the only way I could come up with.

I sat there for about fifteen minutes or so in the freezing cold when I saw Harm turn the corner. If she saw me, she gave absolutely no sign until she was standing right in front of me.

"Move." she said in a hostile tone, glaring down at me, her arms crossed. Anyone else would be scared, but not me. Harm had been my best friend since we were really little. No matter how mad she was, she wouldn't hurt me. Scream at me? Yes. Cuss me out? Yes. Threaten me? Yes. Hit me? No.

"No." I told her sternly. I knew exactly how to handle her. "We need to talk. Now." Force was necessary.

"About what?" she asked. "About how you betrayed me? About how you threw away our friendship?"

"No." I told her, standing up so I could look more forceful. "About the dumb reason that you're mad at me. About why you really hate Collin." I needed this question answered.

"I already told you that!" she yelled at me. "Why do you insist on dragging that up all the time? What does it matter?"

"Because you're my best friend!" I screamed at her. Why couldn't I get her to understand? "I don't want you to be mad at me. I just... I don't want to be mad at Collin anymore either. There's no point."

Harmony stared at me in utter disbelief. "What do you mean? He tortured you. How much more of a point do you need?"

"We were kids!" I yelled at her. "Mat used to wipe snot on me when we were kids! Do you let me talk to him? Yes, I believe you do." Okay, bad example. That just made me sound either crazy or stupid. Maybe both.

"He's your brother!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "And what do you mean I _let _you talk to him? So, I don't let you talk to Collin then? Well, guess what? You can do whatever you freaking want, Scout! I don't care."

"So, what are you saying, Harm?"

"I'm saying we're not friends." she said, shaking her head at me. "You lied to me, Scout. You know I hate him so you thought you'd just go behind my back. 'Oh, Harm will never know.'" she mocked me in a shrill voice.

"I do not talk like that!" I yelled. I could not believe that she was behaving so childishly. "I only lied because I knew you'd take it like this. If I had told you, you would've still been mad."

"Of course I would be mad." She let out a long, annoyed sighed. "I can't be your friend as long as you want to be friends with him." she said, giving me an ultimatum.

"You're making me choose between you and Collin?" I asked in disbelief. I couldn't believe that she was being so childish and stupid.

"Yeah."

"No."

"Looks like you made your choice then." she said, shoving past me to get to her door. "When you realize he's still a jerk, I won't be here!" She opened the door and then slammed it in my face. I heard the lock click and, seconds later, Harm storm off to her bedroom.

"UUUGGGHHH!" I shrieked as I crossed the street to my house. Why was she being so impossible? I slammed the front door in anger, causing the glass in the window on the door to shake.

I stormed off to my room, slamming that door too. I threw my things down on the floor and flopped onto my bed, groaning some more. When did my life get so screwed up and depressing?

Everything had just become so complicated. Vampires, werewolves, love, soul mates, fighting, Collin, Harmony... It was all just way too much for one person to handle all by herself.

I reached into my pillowcase and pulled out my journal. It was the only friend I had at the moment. I was going to write down everything. Maybe it would help me figure out what I should do. Besides, I hadn't written in it since before Collin dragged me into the woods.

_Where do I even begin?_

_So, turns out my 'protector' is Collin. Yeah, that's right. Collin's a wolf. Oh, and get this. I'm his soul mate. He's 'imprinted' on me. It's supposed to be beautiful and magical and wonderful, but to me it sounds creepy and sick._

_If that's not enough, Harm's still mad at me for wanting to speak to Collin. I asked her why she hates him again and she gave me the same 'He tortured you' spiel. I know there's more to it than that but she's not telling me anything. _

_Maybe I should just go off and find a nice deserted island somewhere and live out the rest of my days as a hermit. At least then I won't have to put up with anymore of this confusing crap anymore._

I put my pen down and rubbed my eyes. That hadn't helped me in the least little bit. If anything, it just made everything a lot worse.

I wished I had a time machine. I'd go back to way before any of this nonsense started. Everything would just be normal again. I needed things to be normal again. I couldn't take anymore confusion.

Why did I care anyway?

Harmony was obvious. She'd been my friend for years. We'd done everything together from learning to read to going through braces to having the flu. I was her only friend. I did have other friends, but I rarely talked to them because they didn't like her. We were sort of a package deal.

Collin though...

I thought I wanted him to stay away from me but I was still trying to get Harm to stop hating him. Why? What did it matter if she hated him if I was going to avoid him anyway? Could it be that, regardless of what I thought of imprinting, I still wanted to hang out with him?

I let out another groan. Maybe everything would be a whole lot easier if I got hit by a bus or an eighteen wheeler or something.

"Scout, honey!" Mom called loudly. "Come help me cook dinner!"

"Coming!" I called back, sliding out of bed.

Things couldn't possibly get any worse.


	21. Advice From A Friend

"Scout, sweetheart?" Dad asked. "Are you okay?"

It was dinnertime and I hadn't uttered a word all evening. Everyone else had been chatting away about their day and I alone remained silent. What was I supposed to tell my family? Not the truth.

"Hmm?" I asked, stabbing my mashed potatoes with my fork. "I'm fine, Dad. Really. Couldn't be better."

Mat looked at me skeptically. "I think your mashed potatoes are dead." he announced. "You don't have to keep stabbing them like that."

"Mathias." Dad warned gently.

"Someone has boy problems." Mal said matter-of-factly.

"How would you know?" I snapped at her. "You're only ten."

"Someone's in denial about having boy problems." she corrected herself.

"Oh, just shut up." I told her, angrily.

"Scout Crystal Barlow!" my mother scolded. "Don't tell your sister to shut up. And Mallory, don't taunt your older sister like that."

Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door and Danny promptly burst into tears. His face turned red and he screamed so loudly and so shrilly that it could have broken glass. He was usually quiet until he got scared.

"Someone's at the door!" Faith exclaimed happily.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." I replied as Mom got up to answer the door, carrying a screaming Danny with her.

"There will be no fighting at the dinner table." Dad told us. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

"Fine by me." I muttered under my breath. I was tired of my siblings trying to get into my business. They certainly weren't helping my situation. In fact, they were just giving me a bigger headache.

Just then, Mom walked back into the room with a much calmer Danny. She sat him back in his highchair. "Seth." he said as Mom turned to me.

"That's right, Danny." she said, smiling. "Seth Clearwater's at the door for you, Scout." she told me. "He says it's important that he speaks with you."

I was glad for an excuse to get away from my family. I stood up, pushed my chair in, and headed out the door without saying a word.

Seth was standing in my yard, waiting for me when I came outside. I walked down into the yard, smiling brightly at him. "Hey, Seth."

"Hey, Scout." he said, cheerfully. "Want to go for a walk?" he asked. "I find it's much easier to have a conversation if you're doing something."

"Okay." I told him. "I suppose I'm up for it." I said, following him into the street. "So, what is this conversation going to be about, exactly?" I asked, thinking I already knew the answer.

"Collin." I groaned and Seth chuckled. "Oh, come on, Scout. I just want to help the two of you out."

"There's nothing to help with." I told Seth. "I'm just not going to speak to him." Wait. When did I decide that again?

"Why?" he asked. "Because he imprinted on you?" He knew?

I didn't answer, too confused as to how Seth knew what was going on. He nodded his head in understanding. "Yeah, that's exactly what I thought."

"It's entrapment." I told him. "The whole thing sounds so creepy. I don't like it at all, Seth. Why me anyway?"

Seth heaved a sigh. "Remember when I was talking to you down at the beach a while back? About Collin and other things?"

I nodded. "Yeah. You seemed really upset about something. I remembered wondering about that. You're usually so happy all of the time. It didn't make much sense to me."

"Well, I was thinking about imprinting." he explained to me. "I'd give anything to love someone the way that Collin loves you. You just have no idea." He looked sad like that day at the beach, so I decided to change the subject.

"You're a wolf too?" I asked, not really all that surprised to tell the truth. It actually made a lot of sense to me. That was why he was so interested in what was going on with me and Collin.

Seth laughed, probably thinking it was funny that I was even asked. "Look, Collin has a lot of faults. Idiocy is one of them. Another is that he has trouble apologizing."

I knew what he was trying to do. He wanted me to go and talk to Collin about this whole mess. He wanted me to give him a chance. It was just like that day back on the beach.

"You're forgetting I grew up with you guys too." That was true. He was just two years older than me. "Collin was mean to you because he liked you. Boys were supposed to hate girls back then. He didn't want people to make fun of him so he made fun of you."

I was a little taken aback by this little tidbit of information. My parents had been right? What universe was this? "Still no excuse."

"Never said it was." Seth assured me. "He's grown up a lot though."

I let out a sigh, still not knowing what I was going to do. "Thanks, Seth." I told him, although I wasn't sure what I was thanking him for.

"No problem." he said, smiling. He looked ahead of us. "So, since we're almost back at your house, I want you to answer a question for me."

"Shoot."

"Are you going to talk to Collin?"

I took another huge breath. "I don't know, Seth. Maybe."

"Well, you just think about it then." Seth said, stopping at the edge of my yard.

"Okay." I told him.

As I stepped on the porch, I heard a wolf howl. I looked out into the yard nervously. I thought Collin had said that he wasn't going to follow me anymore. He promised me that.

"Brady." Seth told me, noting my face. "Don't worry, we're making sure Collin doesn't follow you until you're ready for all this. He made us promise we would. Imprinting's kind of strong and he wants to make sure you're okay, but also wants to keep his promise. It's confusing for him."

For some reason, that made me sad for him. However, I didn't let on. All I said was "Good" as I opened the door and walked back into the house still confused about what I was going to do.


	22. Christmas Gifts

Christmas Eve was a time for my family to be together. Maycee and Spencer were home from college. As usual, we had a big dinner and then opened presents all around the tree.

Everyone, except Faith and Danny, knew that Mom and Dad gave us half of our presents on Christmas Eve and the other half on Christmas Day. The little ones, of course, though all presents received on Christmas Day were from Santa.

Dinner was amazing. We had all different kinds of food. We had ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, scallops, meatballs, and rolls. Dessert was comprised of two cheesecakes (one plain and one chocolate), a pumpkin pie, and a coconut cream pie. I even made pumpkin juice and butterbeer.

It was nice. We ate and talked and had fun. No one picked on each other. We were truly happy to be together. It was like we'd all been replaced by aliens or something. It really was wonderful.

After dinner was over, we all gathered around our overly decorated tree. We always sat in the floor to open our presents. I never thought to question why. I can't remember not sitting on the floor. It was tradition.

"Okay." Dad said, picking a bag off the floor and looking at the tag. "This one's for Mallory." He reached over to her and gave her the bag.

Mal ripped out all of the tissue paper. "Sweet!" she yelled, pulling out a green hat. "This is great! Thanks!"

Mom smiled. "Who's next?" She grabbed a box wrapped in shiny red paper. "Looks like this one's for... Faith."

"Goody!" Faith exclaimed, taking her present. She yanked off the wrapping paper and tore off the box lid. "Purple sparkly boots!"

Next, it was time for Spencer to hand out a present. "Uh... Scout." he said, giving me a small gift bag. "There you go."

I pulled out several Chocolate Frogs and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. I wasn't disappointed. We couldn't afford a bunch of expensive things for everyone. Besides, Mom and Dad saved the big gifts for in the morning.

"Ooh." Maycee said, pulling out a big box. "Another for Scout."

I grabbed the box and got Faith to help me tear off the paper. It was a Harry Potter Clue board game. I'd been wanting one for a long while.

"Oh my gosh!" I yelled. "This is great! Thank you all so much!" I was thrilled. I could wait to play with... no one. Maybe I could teach Faith how the game worked. She was smart. Maybe she'd understand.

I looked around for a present to pull out. I found an interesting looking bag with a picture of snowmen sledding. It was a present for Mom.

"Mommy." I said, realizing what was in the bag. "I hope you like this. It's from Maycee and Spencer." They'd been saving up all year.

She opened the bag and began crying. "Oh my Lord. It's wonderful."

"What is it?" Faith asked curiously.

Mom pulled out the present to show it off. It was one of those cool digital picture frames. Everyone oohed and awed as she held it up.

"So, you like it then?" Spencer asked, grinning.

"Oh, I love it." Mom replied, tears in her eyes.

"Good." Maycee said. "We thought you would with all those pictures you and Dad take of us all the time."

"Me next!" Mat shouted, grabbing the nearest bag. "Dad, it's for you." he said, handing over the present.

Dad pulled out a blue and silver tie. "A tie? Are you all that unimaginative or do you just think I'm boring?"

I laughed. "Oh, come on. It's Ravenclaw colors, Dad. You know, 'Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind, where those of wit and learning will always find their kind.' It means I think you're smart."

"Oh." Dad said, reaching over for a hug. "Thank you very much, Scout."

"Oh, Mathias." Mal said in a sing-song voice, waving a bag around. "This one's for you."

Mat lunged for the bag and threw the tissue paper everywhere. "Cool. Iron Man on DVD. Awesome."

"Here's one for Danny." Faith said, handing a present to our baby brother.

With help from Mom, Danny managed to open his present. It was a Spiderman toy motorcycle. "Yay!" he cheered, clapping his hands.

Mom smiled happily. "Help me give this present to Maycee, Danny."

"Merry Christmas." Danny said as Maycee took the bag from him and Mom.

Maycee opened it and grinned. "Oh, guys." she exclaimed, pulling out a big, yellow purse. "My favorite color. Thank you so much."

"Okay, Spencer." Dad said, beginning the cycle again. "You're next." He handed him a bag.

Spencer pulled out a black planner. "Oh, gee. Thanks. What? Don't think I'm organized?"

"Oh, please." Maycee scoffed at her twin. "You are the most unorganized person in the whole history of the world."

Suddenly, the phone began ringing. We all groaned, not really wanting to answer. I mean, who called anyone on Christmas Eve at nine-thirty at night?

"I'll get it." Mom said, standing up and heading out of the living room.

"So," Faith began, her eyes lighting up. "How many presents did I get?"

Dad laughed. "Everyone got two presents, Faith."

"What a rip off." she complained.

"Well, Santa's bringing you a bunch of presents tomorrow." Maycee reminded her.

Faith suddenly looked very sad. "Some boy on my bus said that he isn't real and that Mommy and Daddy just leave the presents under the tree."

"Santa's not real?" Danny asked, looking even more sad than Faith.

"Of course he is." Dad assured them, putting an arm around Faith. "That boy's just mean. He's probably upset because he's getting coal for Christmas."

Mom came back in the living room, holding the phone to her chest. "Scout, it's Collin."

"No." I said automatically. "I'm not talking to him." My promise to Seth a few weeks earlier seemed like nothing.

"Scout, you need to speak with him." she said, trying to coax me.

"No." I repeated resolutely. "There is no way." I crossed my arms, trying to make a point.

Mom heaved a sigh and went back to the phone. "Collin, we're kind of busy opening gifts right now." She paused, listening. "Sure, I'll have her call you later." Another pause. "Merry Christmas to you too." She hung up, glaring at me.

We resumed opening presents, but I wasn't in the high spirits I had been in before the phone call. Why had Mom told Collin that I'd call him back?

Before I knew it, I was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. I'd been trying to fall asleep for a couple of hours with no success.

"Hey, Scout?" Maycee whispered from her bed. I had thought she'd fallen asleep.

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you refuse to talk to that Collin guy on the phone earlier?"

I took a huge breath. Of course Maycee wouldn't remember Collin very well. "He was mean to me when we were little."

"Oh." she exclaimed, realizing who he was. "You know, that happened a long time ago. If he's willing to call and apologize, you should forgive him."

I was silent for a while. Maybe my older sister was right. Just because I forgave him it didn't mean I necessarily had to talk to him.

"Scout?" Maycee asked again.

"Yeah?"

"I know you'll do the right thing."

If only I could figure out what the right thing to do was.


	23. A Christmas Miracle

The whole family was roused bright and early on Christmas morning by a very bouncy, excited, and annoying Faith. We were all like that once, so we understood and didn't complain. Much.

Sleepy and a little disgruntled, we all trudged into the living room to receive the rest of our Christmas gifts. The sight in there was enough to wake us all up. There were presents galore.

After tearing through boxes, I looked at the pile of gifts around me. I'd gotten a black tote bag with the Hogwarts crest, _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_, a new jacket, two new shirts, and a small stuffed owl. Needless to say, I was pleased.

As we all showed off our gifts, there came a rather loud knock on the front door. I volunteered to answer it and got up.

While walking down the hall, I began to wonder who could possibly be at the door. It was seven o'clock in the morning for God sakes. Who would be up?

I yanked open the door to find no one standing there. I happened to glance down and was instantly glad that I had.

Sitting on the porch was a box wrapped in green wrapping paper. Bending down to grab the box, I discovered there was a card addressed to me taped on the top.

I pulled the card off and then opened up the box. It contained a Gryffindor tee shirt, a Gryffindor scarf, and Hermione's Time Turner necklace. I blinked a couple of times to make sure the things were real.

I just couldn't believe my eyes. Who would get me all of this stuff? Why would anyone get me all of this stuff? What had I done that was so great that it deserved Christmas presents as amazing as these?

My first thought- or, rather, hope- was that Harmony had been the one who had given me these presents. Leaving them on my doorstep without talking to me would be the kind of thing she would do.

The only logical thing to do was to open the card and find out who was generous enough to give me all of those gifts. It actually turned out not to be a card at all. Instead, the envelope contained a letter.

_Scout, _

_I know I promised to leave you alone, but I wanted to give you some Christmas gifts. I really hope that you enjoy them. I put a lot of thought into them._

_There's more that I want to tell you. I see your points on imprinting and I understand. However, you should know that the imprint was not the reason I apologized. I am genuinely sorry that I was a jerk to you. Whether you choose to believe that or not is up to you._

_I just want you to know that you can come to me at any time for anything. I'll help you all I can. Even if you don't want to be with me, you can still count me as a friend. _

_I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. _

_Collin_

_P.S. Do me a favor and keep my secret. I don't think you'd ever tell, but I'd like to make sure anyway._

I was dumbstruck. I could not believe what he had done for me. It was just so bizarre. It must have cost him a lot.

I walked back into the house, presents in hand, in a sort of stupor. My brain still wasn't able to process everything. The idea of Collin giving me Christmas presents was so foreign.

"Lookee what I got!" Faith exclaimed, thrusting a stuffed wolf in my face as I reentered the living room.

"Nice." I said, stopping at my pile of presents. I remained standing, unable to sit down.

"Who was that at the door, Scout?" my dad asked, staring at me.

'No one." I answered. Everyone was staring at me now.

"No one?" Mom questioned, frowning. She stared at me for a moment then, indicating the box in my arm, asked, "Is that a Christmas present for you, sweetie?"

I nodded my head, slowly. I noticed everyone in the room exchange a look. I knew they were all concerned. I just couldn't figure out why.

"Who's it from?" Dad asked.

"Collin" I answered. I decided in that moment that I was going to do something about this. "Mom? Can I go and thank him?"

"Of course." Mom said, smiling. I knew I had just made her very happy.

"Scout?" Faith asked, tugging on the leg of my pajama pants. She held her little stuffed wolf out to me. "I want you to give this to Collin."

I smiled and took the toy from her. "This is the perfect present for him." I thought it odd that Faith wanted to give Collin a stuffed wolf. She couldn't possibly know. It had to be a coincidence.

Ten minutes later, I set out for Collin's house in my pajamas, big coat, boots, and new Gryffindor scarf. I was also wearing my Time Turner and carrying the toy wolf in my pocket.

I approached the front door feeling pretty nervous. I didn't exactly know what I was doing. I rapped on the door, not knowing quite what to expect.

The door was slowly pulled open and Collin stared at me, open mouthed and confused. "S-Scout?" he stuttered.

"Hey." I said, holding up a hand in greeting. I shoved my hand back in my coat pocket and then began rocking back and forth on my heels. "I... uh... got the presents you left me."

"Oh." He stared at me for a moment. "You're wearing the scarf. Looks nice on you." He smiled shyly.

"Thanks." I said, smiling back. "I got you something too." I pulled the wolf out of my pocket and handed it to him. "Faith actually said I should give it to you. Don't worry though. She doesn't know."

He nodded, looking quite nervous. "So, having a good Christmas?"

"Yeah, it's been great." I replied, looking at my shoes. "Did you get a lot of presents?"

"A fair few."

We stared at each other in silence for who even knows how long. It was freezing cold and I was shivering in my pajama bottoms, but I couldn't bring myself to move from my spot on the porch.

"Hey, Scout?" Collin asked after a long while. When he saw I was listening, he continued. "Do you wanna come inside?"

"I don't know." I answered truthfully.

"I have a few Harry Potter video games." he told me. "You never know, you might actually end up enjoying yourself."

"Why not?" I answered, walking towards him.

Maybe, just maybe, I would manage to have a good time. Miracles do happen every once in a while, especially on Christmas.


	24. It's A Date!

A cold, wet snowball collided with my face, making the skin sting. I brushed the snow off my cheek and turned my head to the direction that the snowball came from. "Mat!" I yelled across the yard.

"Wasn't me!" he yelled back defensively. He dropped the snowball he had been holding in his gloved hand. "It was Collin!" he said, pointing his finger at the older boy who was standing two feet to his left.

"You little rat!" Collin yelled, flinging a freshly made snowball at Mat who immediately bent over to make another snowball and retaliate.

"Get him!" Faith called from behind a mound of snow that she referred to as her 'fort'. She'd built the thing all by herself and would let no one hide behind it with her.

In the beginning, it seemed like a good idea to invite Collin over and play with Mat and Faith in the four inches of snow that had accumulated during the night while we'd all been sleeping. I'd had no idea it would turn into an all out snowball war. It was everyone for themselves.

Or, it had been. It seemed as though, for a little while, Faith, Collin, and I had all banded together to destroy Mat. Well, at the very least bury him under a pile of snow. We all seemed to agree that he deserved payback.

Collin and I ran for Faith's fort and instantly began helping her make snowballs. When we had a neat little pile, Collin and I launched snowball after snowball at Mat in quick succession while Faith made more ammunition. We were like a machine.

"I give!" Mat yelled, dropping down on his knees, his hands up over his face to protect it from the onslaught of snowballs. "I surrender!"

"Hold your fire." Collin whispered to me, a snowball in his own hand, poised to strike. He peeked over the wall of snow. "What do you want, Mat?" Collin had discovered that my brother was a tricky little sneak.

"I want a truce." Mat called, still on his knees, his arms lowered.

Collin turned to my little sister. "Should we leave him be, General Faith?"

Faith, glad to be put in charge, screwed up her face in over exaggeration. "I guess." she said, coming out of her thoughtful face, grinning instead. "If he sticks snow down his pants."

"What?" Mat yelled incredulously. "There is no way! No!"

"Tsk, tsk, Mat." I said, shaking my head. "That was not the answer we were looking for."

Collin grinned mischievously. "We'll give you one more chance before we open fire." he offered with that devilish smile. "So, what's your answer again?"

In response, Mat grabbed a handful of snow and stuffed it in his pants. His eyes grew wide and he twitched and shivered as it went down, probably melting in his boots. I couldn't help but laugh.

Faith began giggling hysterically herself. "I didn't think he'd actually do that!"

Collin joined in on our laughing. Mat, red faced and cold, stormed into the house muttering under his breath. We continued laughing, clutching our sides and sinking into the snow.

About five minutes later, Collin and I got Faith back into the house and then decided to head over to his place for a little while. I swear as we went up the road I saw Harm peek her head out of her kitchen window and then draw the white curtains. I didn't let it bother me though.

"So, ready to get your butt kicked at Quidditch World Cup again?" I asked, elbowing Collin in the side. We'd been hanging out almost all of break. We alternated whose house we played at. With only three days left before school was back in session I wasn't about to break our routine.

"Actually," Collin began as we turned a corner. "I was thinking we'd just drink some hot chocolate and talk." He smirked. "You know, give your ego and my thumbs a little break."

I frowned, not entirely sure about his plan. The only thing we could possibly talk about was the imprint. I wasn't so sure if I wanted to bring that up. However, I answered, "Sure. Sounds... good."

We entered Collin's house ten minutes later, finding it empty. I wasn't bothered by this. Collin's parents usually weren't home whenever I came over. I wondered if Collin did that on purpose.

"Go ahead and sit in the living room." Collin said, heading for the kitchen. "I'll make the hot chocolate and bring it to you."

"Okay." I said, taking off my coat and draping it over a kitchen chair. I made my way into the spotlessly clean living room. The first thing I noticed was that the tree was still up. I figured they would have taken it down seeing as how even New Year's had passed. I walked over towards it and examined all of the ornaments. There were an assortment of Hallmark ones, homemade ones, and elegant, hand painted glass balls.

"I thought you might be attracted to the tree." Collin said from behind me. His voice caused me to jump a little and that caused him to chuckle. "Wanna see my favorite ornament?" I nodded and he plucked a paper tree from a branch and handed it to me.

I turned it over on the back, thinking it looked familiar. "To: Collin Main. From: Scout Barlow. Christmas 1999." I read softly, turning it back to the front. I'd decorated the whole tree with blue stars drawn in crayon.

"Remember?" he asked me. "My parents invited your family over for a Christmas party and your mom forced you to make that for me?"

"Oh yeah." I said, remembering. I hung the ornament back on the tree and then looked at Collin, frowning. "Where's the hot chocolate?"

He pointed to the coffee table in front of the blue couch. Two coffee cups- one blue and one yellow- were resting on coasters. "I sat them down before I walked over here." he explained.

"Ah." I said as we walked over to the couch and sank down next to each other. It was silent for a while as we sipped on our hot chocolate. I tasted a hint of cinnamon. It was delicious.

Collin started laughing and I looked at him, an eyebrow raised in question. "Remember what I gave you in return that Christmas?" I shook my head no and he laughed again. "I gave you a haircut. We were up playing in my room and you had turned around so I pulled out a pair of scissors and snip." He mimed a pair of scissors cutting the air.

"Oh yeah. That was a couple of days before it was actually Christmas." I said, remembering. "I had to get my haircut like a boy's. It didn't grow all the way back until April."

"Sorry." Collin muttered, looking a little sheepish. He took a sip of his hot chocolate. "I was a really dumb little kid."

"Water under the bridge." I said, taking a sip out of my own cup. "I'm the one who should be apologizing to you." This time, he raised an eyebrow. "I've been nothing but horrible to you these past few months. You really were just trying to be nice to me. I was too busy listening to Harm. You must've felt terrible."

"Miserable." he admitted, nodding. "So, I guess we're even?"

"Of course." I told him. I looked around the room for a moment and then sighed. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh." Collin said, sitting his mug down. "Well... I was wondering if I could have another chance. I... don't want to force you into anything. That's not my intention. I just want another date."

I rolled my eyes far back into my head. "What do you call today?" I asked him. Honestly, the boy was so very clueless.

"Wait, what?" he asked, looking so stunned and adorable. "This is a...?"

"Date." I finished for him. "Yeah. I didn't intend for it to be, but it's pretty apparent that it is. So, go on and ask me whatever it is you're going ask me at the end of this date now. I can tell you're itching to ask me something important."

Collin shook his head, trying to clear out confusion. "Right. Well, if it isn't too forward, would you be my girlfriend?"

"Hmm." I said, pretending to consider. I bit the tip of my tongue. "I dunno." I let out a long sigh. "Well, fine. Sure. Why not?"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"No lie?"

"Oh, sorry. That was a lie."

"Really?"

"Oh my God. Can you not take a joke?"

"Got ya."

I rolled my eyes at the big goofball. "Honestly. Will you ever grow up, Collin Main?"

He laughed at me. "Oh, come on. You know you love me."

"I never said that." I told him abruptly. Well, I hadn't. I wasn't sure how I actually felt yet. I knew I liked him but just how much was a mystery even to me. Maybe one day I would figure it all out.

"So..." he began, looking a little nervous. He stared at me for a second, licking his bottom lip. His nose was scrunched up and I had a feeling I knew what he was trying to ask. "Can I... kiss you?"

As much as I wanted to tell him that he could, I couldn't do that. "No." I told him. "You can't just ask. It has to take me completely by surprise."

"Scout Barlow." Collin said, shaking his head. "I'm not quite sure I'll ever figure you out."

"Good. You're not supposed to." I told him, smirking slightly. "I'm a mass of contradictions."

"Well, I'm going to attempt." he said, finishing his hot chocolate. "It'll be a futile attempt, but maybe I'll get somewhere."

And just maybe Collin would. He was certainly smart enough. I might even help me a little. Give him hints. Just maybe he could pull it off one day. Maybe on that day I would finally figure out how I actually felt about him.

Collin placed a warm hand on mine, making my heart flutter a little bit. "I think this is going to be the start of an interesting relationship."

I had a feeling that he was absolutely right.


	25. Lots Of Rumors And A Little Truth

I slowly walked towards the front entrance to the school after Dad dropped me off. I was scanning the crowd for Collin. He told me always stood outside in the mornings before the bell rang.

It didn't take very long for me to find Collin and the rest of his friends. They towered over all of the other students. I supposed it was the werewolf genes.

Seeing me, Collin waved me over. I walked towards him and stopped once I was beside him. He took my hand and smiled warmly at me. I felt myself blush.

"Aww, how cute." Brady teased. I rolled my eyes at him, so he stuck his tongue out at me. "So, is this going to be a regular occurrence." He looked from Collin to me and back again.

"What?" Collin asked, quickly glancing at Brady before returning his eyes to me. "Her hanging out with us?" He looked at Brady again. "Yeah, if she wants."

"Goody goody gumdrops." Brady said, clapping his hands together. "This'll be oodles and oodles of fun."

"Brady." Seth warned trying to keep the peace. "Be nice. Just because you haven't imprinted yet-"

"Never gonna happen." Brady interjected. "I see the ways wolves with imprints get. No thank you. I will not bend over backwards just to make someone else happy." He smirked at a girl a few feet in front of us. She turned to her friends, squealing over the fact that Brady looked at her. "Besides, I can't be tied down."

"You may be singing a different tune." Seth replied. Brady simply ignored him. It seemed to me that this was an ongoing argument between Brady and, well, everyone else.

People began shoving through the doors so it looked like it was time for me to go. Collin gave me a big, loving hug and told me goodbye. I walked all the way to my locker alone.

The whole day people kept staring at me and whispering. I knew exactly what they were talking about. My apparent relationship with Collin was spreading through the school like wildfire.

By lunch time, I'd come to just ignore everyone. I was halfway through eating my lunch alone when Luna and Karma walked up to me.

"I knew there was something going on." Karma snapped at me without any sort of greeting. "And to think I thought you were a good person." She scowled at me.

_This could't have anything to do with Collin could it? _I asked myself. To make sure, I asked Karma, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't play innocent." Luna answered angrily. "You know exactly what you did, Scout Barlow." She sucked in a deep breath. "We've just come to inform you that we're no longer your friends." With that, the two of them sauntered off.

I didn't care too much. Luna and Karma had never been great friends with me. During the beginning of the fight with Harm I was currently going through, they didn't talk to me that much.

I glanced up for half a second and locked eyes with Harmony all the way on the other side of the cafeteria. At first, she looked surprised. However, her look of shock soon turned into a scowl.

_What's her problem? _I wondered, getting up and throwing away my Styrofoam tray. I walked off towards the direction of the nearest bathroom. I was tired of people staring at me and whispering about me. Couldn't they at least have the decency to not do it in front of me?

I entered the bathroom, angry at the whole world. I stood in front of the mirror and stared at myself for a moment. I looked the exact way I felt: awful. I wanted school to just end. I wanted to go somewhere. Anywhere.

Suddenly, one of the stall doors slammed open. I whipped around, coming face to face with Grace Berry. Wasn't she supposed to be in class? Oh, wait. She was probably skipping.

"So, Scout," she began, glaring at me. "I hear you're dating Collin." She crossed her arms. For someone so small, she sure looked scary.

"Uh... yeah." My voice sounded so small and high pitched. I was pretty scared. I didn't know what was going to happen.

"How cute." she said in a fake sweet voice. "You know, I used to date him."

"Yeah, I know." I answered. Where was she going with this?

"I know how he can be." she told me. "He's so sweet. For a while anyway. Then he breaks your heart and leaves you for someone else." Her icy glare told me I was the someone else.

"Oh?" I asked, not really quite sure how to respond to that since I knew better.

"Yeah." she said, frowning. "So, you better watch out. Wouldn't wanna see you get hurt." Her frown changed into a smirk.

"Are you threatening me?" I asked. Instead of getting an answer, I got shoved aside by Grace as she left the bathroom in an angry huff.

What in the heck was everyone's problem? Why should it matter to anyone if Collin was dating me? What was the big freaking deal?

I stared into the mirror and it hit me. Everyone had figured Collin had cheated on Grace. Now, I was dating him. They thought there was a connection.

_Someone had to be the first to suggest that. _I thought to myself, clutching the sides of the sink. _They knew it would spread through the school like wild fire. That's what they wanted. But who-? Harm._

It had to be her. It all made perfect sense. When school ended, I ditched Collin so I could confront Harmony. I caught her before she could make it up the porch.

"Harm!" I yelled, running into her yard. At the sound of my voice she turned around and I was able to grab hold of her arm.

"Let go!" she yelled, trying to jerk free. I kept a tight hold. I wasn't giving up that easily. "Seriously, Scout!"

"I know it's you that's been talking about me at school." I told her. She continued to struggle and I continued to hold on.

"Why the hell would I do that?" she yelled. Thank goodness Karen wasn't home. She would've been outside in a heart beat, trying to figure out what was going on.

"You hate that I'm dating Collin." I reminded her. "You'd do anything to get us apart."

"I could care less about you and Collin!"

"That's a load of crap!"

"All right!" she yelled at me. "I hate Collin."

"For no apparent reason." I added, keeping hold of her arm.

"Oh, I have a reason."

"What is it then? Enlighten me, Harm." I let go and she turned around. She didn't bolt. She simply stared at me for a moment.

"He picked on you relentlessly for years and you still liked him." she began. "You've always liked him no matter what he did to you."

"And?"

"And?" she shouted back at me. She gave a hollow laugh. "I can't believe you don't get it. It's been staring you in the face for years."

"What has?"

Harmony looked at me. I could've sworn she was trembling. "I like girls." she said in barely a whisper. "Not just any girl though. No. It's you, Scout."

"What?" I asked, confused. I never thought Harm acted that way. Never in a million years would I have guessed.

"I didn't even know why I cared so much that day at the beach. It seemed so stupid to get worked up over that." she continued, not looking at me. "I didn't figure it out until we were twelve. I know you don't feel that way though. I know you've always liked him. I guess that's why I hate him. He was mean to you, but you picked him anyway."

"Oh, Harm." I said, reaching out to her. She drew away from me. "Harm?"

"No." she said firmly. "Don't even pretend to understand. You can't possibly."

"Then help me understand." I begged her. "We're best friends, Harmony. Please?"

She shook her head. "No, we aren't. We can't be. Not anymore." She turned on her heels, ran inside her house, and slammed the door.

I walked back towards my house, confused and upset. I couldn't believe Harm wasn't going to talk to me. Surely if she knew that I liked guys then she also knew that one day I'd have a boyfriend. If I'd been dating anyone but Collin, would she be acting this way?

I can't recall sitting down on my porch steps. I can't even recall making it across the street. I just was somehow. I was staring across the street not at all sure that what just happened made any remote sense.

"There you are." I heard a while later as Collin sat down next to me. "How did you manage to get away from me?"

I didn't answer. I just stared straight ahead of me. I was trying to think. "Scout?" Collin asked, squeezing my knee. "Is something wrong?"

I sighed. "I ran into Grace at school. She basically threatened me. The whole school's talking about me. Harmony, my best friend, won't even speak to me."

Collin was quiet for a moment. "Don't listen to them." he finally said. "Listen to yourself. What does Scout say, huh? What does Scout want? Scout's all that matters. Even I don't matter."

I turned to him. "Scout..." I took a breath. "Scout realizes she's liked you since she was little. Had you been nice back then, she would have known that earlier." I took another breath. "Scout also wishes Harmony would be her friend again. She isn't too worried though because she knows Harm will come around someday."

Collin smiled at me. "Collin's glad to hear that. He's liked Scout for a long time too. He was just worried about what everyone else would say. Now, he doesn't care. Only took turning into a wolf and imprinting to figure that out." He chuckled.

"Scout thinks she and Collin should stop talking in third person." I laughed.

"Collin agrees." he also laughed. "So, are you going to be okay?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine."

"Good." he said, giving me a hug. In that moment, I didn't care about anyone or anything. It was just me and Collin. I wouldn't have traded that for anything in the whole world.


	26. Studying, Studying, Studying

"Brady would you cut that out?" Collin shouted.

Collin, Brady, and I were over at Collin's house studying for our upcoming exams. Brady had been incessantly tapping his pencil and it had finally managed to drive Collin up the wall.

"Sheesh. Why are you so uptight?" Brady asked, glaring at him. "I'm just tapping my pencil."

"I'm not uptight." Collin snapped. "You're just annoying. How in the hell am I supposed to concentrate with all of that racket you're making?"

"Boys." I warned. They couldn't hear me over their loud bickering. I just wished they would stop so I could concentrate on my own work.

"Racket?" Brady shouted, throwing down his pencil. "What about your constant mumbling, huh? How am I supposed to think straight with your mouth running?"

"Boys." I said, louder this time. They just ignored me again.

"That's how I remember stuff." Collin angrily explained. 'How does tapping a pencil help you?"

A full scale argument broke out. The both of them were shouting, not listening to the other, and making no sense whatsoever. I knew it was high time I intervened before things got out of hand.

"BOYS!" I yelled, slamming my book shut. The two of them looked at me, half out of their seats and with their mouths open in mid shout.

"Good." I said in a calm, quiet voice. "Now, we're all stressed out so I think a walk is needed. Good ol' fresh air to clear our heads and calm us down."

Collin sighed, sinking back down in his chair. "She's right." he said, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. "I'm losing it."

"Fine." Brady grumbled. "Let's go."

Within a few minutes we were out the door and headed up the street. It was drizzling slightly, but we all had our hoods up.

"Isn't this nice?" I asked, smiling, glad to be away from books and studying.

"Wet." Brady complained, looking up at the sky.

'You'd think after living here your whole life you'd be used to it by now." Collin laughed. "Rains more than the sun shines."

At that moment, a car sped by, throwing water at us. Brady, being the one closest to the car, got the worst of the splash. He was drenched from head to toe.

"Ah hell!" Brady yelled. "Thanks a lot Harmony!"

I stopped dead, looking at the tail end of the vehicle as it turned the corner of what was my street. "Harmony?" I asked.

"Yeah." Brady muttered darkly. "Her and her aunt. Her aunt was the one driving."

"Huh. I guess it was them. I'm pretty sure that's Karen's car anyway." Of course I knew it had been them. I'd only been in that car about a billion times before.

We started walking again in silence. I started thinking of ways to get Harmony to speak to me again. None of them would work though.

"She's so weird." Brady said quietly.

"Who?" I asked, thinking he meant me.

"What do you mean 'who'?" he asked, looking at me like I was insane. "Harmony! Who else?"

"She's not weird!" I yelled at him. harm may not have been speaking to me, but I wasn't going to let Brady make fun of her.

"Yeah she is." Brady insisted. "I mean, she hardly ever talks to anyone except for you, Scout. Now, she's not even talking to you."

"That doesn't make her weird!" I yelled at him.

"Brady, just lay off." Collin told his best friend, seeing a fight might ensue.

"Whatever." Brady muttered, crossing his arms.

"It's okay." Collin told me. "Brady's just mad because harmony's yet another girl that he hasn't imprinted on."

"I don't care about imprinting!" Brady shouted, throwing up his hands. "How many times do I have to tell you and Seth that? Sheesh!"

I chuckled. For someone who didn't care about imprinting, Brady sure managed to get worked up about it an awful lot. He wasn't fooling anyone. No matter what he said, we knew he cared. He didn't want to be alone anymore than Seth did.

Collin rolled his eyes at Brady. "Fine Whatever. I'm just not going to talk to you for a while."

"Best thing you've done for me in years." Brady said, walking ahead of us.

Collin shook his head and I smiled, taking his hand. He seemed a little surprised but smiled back anyway. I couldn't help but think about how cute he was.

"Hey, Scout?" Collin asked me. "I was wondering if next Thursday you'd like to go to Seth's birthday party with me."

"Sure." I told him.

"Really?" he asked. "Even if Brady's there?"

"I heard that!" Brady shouted without turning around.

I chuckled. "Yeah, even if Brady's there." I said. "I think Seth could use another friend there. He seems a little down. The more the merrier, you know."

"He'll be happy to hear that." Collin told me, smiling.

"See?" Brady asked, allowing us to catch up with him. "That's what I mean about imprinting. Seth's flipping out because he hasn't yet. He's depressed all of the time. His sister Leah's bitter because she doesn't think she'll imprint. Even Embry's driving himself nuts about this. That's all it does. Make you depressed and crazy."

Collin sighed. "Have you met Sam, Jared, Quil, Paul, Jacob or me? Imprinting's not bad once it's done and over with."

"Right." Brady said. "Sam has to live with not only what he did to Emily but the fact that he hurt Leah when he imprinted on her cousin!" Brady was on a roll. "Jared's always worrying over Kim. Paul hardly ever gets to see Rachel. Quil imprinted on a three year old! Jacob's imprint is a half vampire with an uptight dad who hates him. And you well..."

"What about me?" Collin asked, teeth clenched. Uh oh. This wasn't going to be good.

"Well..." Brady began, thinking of the best way to start. "Scout's okay and all but you worried over her hating you. I'm telling you, imprinting's nothing but trouble."

We made it back to Collin's house in silence. Collin seemed to be mad at Brady, Brady thought it best not to speak, and I had given up on the two of them.

We sat back down at the kitchen table and went back to studying. I pulled my history notes out of my notebook and began reading. Everything was running together. I could swear I read the same sentence about ten times and I still didn't know what I had read.

Suddenly, Collin shouted, "Brady! Stop tapping your freaking pencil!"

"That wasn't me!" Brady shouted back at him.

I looked down, becoming aware that I was the one who had been tapping this time. "Oops." I said, laying my pencil down. "Sorry Collin."

"Ha!" Brady yelled triumphantly. "Now what?"

Collin let out a sigh. "It's fine, Scout. Just stop, okay?"

"Right I replied sheepishly. I hated exams. I hated studying for exams. It just made people so stressed. No wonder kids got in so much trouble. The constant study drove them nuts.

I would be thankful when exams were over and everyone went back to normal. I couldn't wait.


	27. Late Night Ramblings

It was midnight, just hours before exams, and instead of sleeping like a good little girl, I was lying awake in my bed. I just couldn't get any sleep. I didn't know if it was nerves or what.

I rolled over and pulled open the drawer to my nightstand. I rummaged around for my journal and a pen. Once I had successfully located these items, I cut on the lamp so I could see to write.

_Well, it's midnight and I have exams in a few hours. Can't sleep a wink so I figured writing might help. Even if it doesn't make me sleepy, it'll clear my head._

I paused, pen between my teeth, thinking about the best way to continue. After five minutes, I sighed and just let my sleep deprived brain spew out whatever it wanted.

_Everything I've ever thought about Collin was completely wrong. He's not a jerk at all. He's really sweet and sensitive and caring. I don't think I could be any luckier._

_Unfortunately, having Collin also means that I'm stuck with Brady. He's usually pretty okay but sometimes... ugh! I want to hit him upside the head. If he doesn't imprint soon I just might kill him._

_Speaking of imprinting, I still don't know quite how I feel on the subject. I'm learning a lot from it though. According to Sam, while a wolf automatically loves his imprint, he doesn't automatically like her or the fact that he imprinted on her. He has to come to terms with the imprinting. So, it seems that Collin really did like me all along._

_On the other hand, it still sounds a little creepy. It's forced. It doesn't even seem natural. Not even animals in the wild are like that. They mate in generally the same way humans do. I still don't know where I stand on the whole imprinting thing._

_Harmony's been another problem I've had to deal with. She won't talk to me. I've tried every way I can think of to get through to her._

_It's not my fault that I like guys, she likes girls, I like Collin, or that she likes me. I don't know why she's treating me this way. I haven't done anything wrong. It's not like I care that she likes girls or, more specifically, me. If she thinks I'd make fun of her then she doesn't know me at all._

_Perhaps that's why she's so miffed that I'm dating Collin. She thinks I'll tell him and then he'll make fun of her. Then the whole school would find out. Ooh. Brady would be just awful._

_Well, now everything makes perfect sense. I'll try to call her soon. We'll be friends again in no time._

_There's still this business with Faith though. She's been acting oddly. She'll stare out the window for hours at a time. Just the other day her teacher sent a note home to Mom and Dad about how she's been staring out the window and not paying attention. When they went to confront her about it, they found her sitting in front of her bedroom window in her desk chair, staring into the woods._

_That's another thing. She keeps asking Dad if she can go playing in the woods by herself. She insists that she can't possibly get hurt or lost. Dad continues to refuse, telling her she's too young to be playing by herself in the first place. _

_And just after dinner I heard her watching TV. It sounded like some kind of documentary on Animal Planet. I went in the living room to watch it with her. She must have heard me because when I walked in the TV was off. She kept telling me I was crazy when I asked her why she had turned off the TV. She claimed she hadn't been watching anything._

_I have got to figure out what is wrong with that child. It is not normal for Faith to sit still for hours or to be quiet. Now, though, she hardly ever says a word. When Mom asked why she was being so silent Faith told her that she was just listening. What could she possibly be listening to? Something weird is going on and I'm going to get to the bottom of whatever it may be._

I stopped for a moment to read what I had written. There was a great deal. I couldn't believe all of that had come out of me. I was amazed.

_I think writing is really helping me. Especially when it comes to problems like Harm. I never would've figured out why she was still so angry with me had I not written out my frustrations and thoughts on the subject._

_I've also found that writing helps me to speak more intelligently. I always got teased as a child for using big words so I just stopped using them. Now, I don't care so much what other people think. I'll speak in the manner that I like._

_Now that I think about it, I suppose I have imprinting to thank for all of this. Collin imprinted on me, started being nice to me, drove me crazy, and caused Mom to get me this journal. If that hadn't happened, I might have a lot of problems._

_Maybe imprinting isn't so bad after all. It's got both good points and bad points just like everything else. If it wasn't for imprinting then I wouldn't know the real Collin Main._

_Like I said before, Collin is really sweet and kind. Without imprinting I wouldn't know that. It's really opened up my eyes. His too I suppose._

_It's funny how the world works. All that stuff about destiny and fate... everyone says it's just nonsense. It's not. Everything happens for a reason. There's a greater purpose. Nothing's just random._

_When did I become so philosophical? Maybe I was all along. Maybe we all are and it just takes an encounter with the mysterious or magical to bring it out. maybe that's why children are so curious and old people are so wise. It's just this magic deep down inside us. This ancient feeling that nothing is impossible and everything should be questioned._

With those thoughts buzzing around in my mind, I opened the drawer to my nightstand, stuck my pen and journal back inside, shut the drawer, turned off the light and lied back down.

I let out a sigh as I glanced at the clock. It was about two in the morning. Luckily, writing had made me tired so I was out like a light in no time.


	28. Strange Behavior

"Yes!" Brady shouted, dropping to his knees the second we got outside. "I'm free! Free! FREE!"

I rolled my eyes. "You do realize that we come back to school on Monday for the new semester, right?"

"Kill joy." he told me, standing back up. "You are a joy killer, Scout. You killed my joy." He followed Collin and me as we started walking. (I think Collin may have been trying to leave him behind.)

"I am so ready for next semester." Collin announced, trying to keep Brady from bickering with me. "My classes are pretty easy."

"What do you have?" I asked.

"Gym, World History, Spanish I, and Psychology." he replied, smiling.

"Psychology?" I asked him. "Why psychology?"

Collin shrugged. "I dunno. Sounded cool. Brady's got it too."

"Yeah." Brady answered, happy to be back in the conversation. "I also have French I, Guitar, and English."

"Guitar?" I asked, trying not to laugh. "Can you even play the guitar?"

Brady glared at me. "Yeah, a little. My uncle taught me some. What's it to you?"

I held up my hands. "Just asking is all. Don't chew my head off."

Brady continued to glare at me so Collin started talking again. "So, Scout... what classes do you have this semester?"

I sighed. "Well, I got my schedule moved around a bit." I told him. "I've got Honors English, Creative Writing, Crafts, and Photography."

Brady frowned. "Ninth graders don't usually get a bunch of electives."

"They do when they're good at math and take Geometry." I answered smugly. "You know that."

Brady rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like, "Stupid smart... ugh. Hate. Bah!" I thought it best not to say anything at all. That would just agitate him and I did not want to deal with an overly cranky Brady.

"So..." Collin said, trying to keep peace as usual. "How are we going to celebrate the end of exam?"

"Well," Brady started, sounding annoyed. "You and your girlfriend or imprint or whatever you call Scout will probably make out and leave me to... I dunno. Talk to myself or something."

I hit Brady hard on the shoulder. All that managed to do was make my hand throb. "I can't do anything. I have to baby-sit Mat, Mal, and Faith. Danny's been feeling sick so Mom took him to the doctor."

"Brady and I will be happy to help." Collin offered sweetly.

"Brady's gonna do what now?" Brady asked, looking disgusted.

"Oh, you'll get along with Mat." I told him. "You two are just alike. I swear."

"So, it's settled?" Collin asked hopefully.

I bit my bottom lip. "Well... Faith's been acting sort of... odd lately. I don't know what's wrong with her." I wanted Collin to know that before he went over to my house so it wouldn't be that big of a surprise to him.

"I'll see if I can't figure out what's up with her." Collin promised. "I've got a special way with that girl." he added as we turned onto my road.

Once in my yard, Faith ran out of the house and tackled Collin just like her old self. Okay, that was even more odd than the way she'd been acting lately. Maybe she just missed seeing Collin?

"Collin!" she happily shouted. "Are you going to help Scout baby-sit?" She looked towards Brady. "He's a friend of yours, right?"

Brady knelt down on her level. "That's right, little girl. Now, why don't you go on inside with your big sissy and play dolls or tea party. Or maybe you'd like to take a little nap." he said in a baby voice.

Faith narrowed her eyes at Brady, clearly not amused. "I'm seven, not three." Brady looked flabbergasted and Faith turned back to Collin. "Wanna play baseball? Me and you against Mat and... your friend?"

Collin frowned. "Well, what about Mal and Scout? Don't you want them to play with us?"

Faith sighed. "Mal won't. She's inside, shut up in our room. I don't know what she's doing in there though."

I shook my head. "I'll go check on Mal."

"I'll get Mat." Collin said, following me into the house.

"I'm sorry." I told him. "I know you wanted to spend time with me today."

Collin chuckled. "It's cool, Scout." He then frowned. "I thought you said Faith was acting weird."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe she got over it. I dunno. Don't know why she wants to play baseball on such a muddy day." The weather had warmed up just enough to melt the snow, leaving the ground muddy.

"Right." Collin said. "I'll just go find Mat then."

"And I'll talk to Mallory." The two of us went off in completely different directions. When I came to Faith and Mal's room, I found the door closed, unsurprisingly.

"Mal?" I asked, knocking on the bedroom door. "It's me, Scout. Are you okay in there?" Mal and I may fight a lot, but she was my little sister and something was definitely wrong with her. I was going to help her all that I could.

There was silence for a moment. "I'm...spectacular." came her reply, finally.

I knew that was a bold faced lie. "Will you let me come in so I can talk to you about what's bugging you?"

"No."

I sighed, sinking down into the floor and leaned my head against the door. "Just tell me what's wrong." I begged.

Mal was quiet for a moment. "People think I'm weird." she finally told me.

I almost laughed. I knew just how to handle this problem. "Well, of course you're weird." I said. "There's not a person who isn't."

"But they say I'm really weird." she whined. "They pick on me."

"If they call you weird, just thank them." I told her. "If they pick on you, either tell your teacher or ignore them."

"You didn't."

I sighed heavily. "No, I didn't. I cried and complained. I fixed that though. I finally confronted Collin and now we're friends."

"You mean boyfriend and girlfriend." Mallory reminded me with a chuckle.

"Right." I smiled. "Don't let those other kids bother you. There's always that one kid who'll stand up for you. Whether it's tomorrow or four years from now."

"Thanks, Scout." Mal said. "You made me feel a lot better."

"No problem." I stood up and stretched. "So, wanna go outside and see Faith, Mat, Collin, and Brady try to play baseball in the mud?"

I heard a shuffling and Mal opened her bedroom door. "Let's go."

Once outside, I found faith sitting on the porch steps with her head on her knees, staring off and Mat hitting baseballs out into the woods.

"Where'd Collin and Brady go?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Mat just shrugged and hit another baseball. Faith, however, answered. "They had to do something really important."

I frowned. What on Earth could they be doing? Why would they just leave my siblings without telling me? "Did they mention what they had to do?"

"Nope." Faith said, continuing to stare off into space.

I sat on the porch steps next to her. So much for celebrating the end of exams with my boyfriend.


	29. The Bottom Of Things

I was curled up in my bed, reading Deathly Hallows when the phone rang. My arm shot out to the end table, grabbing the phone. I'd been waiting for this call.

"Hello?" I asked, making sure.

"Hey, Scout." Collin, just like I thought.

"So, where'd you and Brady run off to earlier?" I asked, cutting to the chase.

"Pack stuff." he answered casually. "No big deal though. It's taken care of now. Sorry about running off."

"It's okay. I understand." I answered. I was just happy that he was fine.

"Anything happen after we left?" Collin asked curiously.

"Nothing really."

"Oh, come on. Something interesting always happens at your house. That's why I like your family so much." He thought we were interesting. Well, that was a new one.

I sighed. "I helped Mal out. Faith just went back to being all weird. The usual."

"Maybe you should just ask Faith what's up with her." Collin suggested. "Maybe she just feels lonely."

Lonely in a house full of kids. Boy did I know how that felt. "Okay, I'll go and talk to her then."

"Good. Let me know how it goes. Bye."

"Bye." I said, hanging up the phone.

I stared up at my ceiling. I must admit that I had no idea what was going to happen when I started my talk with Faith. I had to brace myself.

After about five minutes of steeling myself for that conversation, I forced myself out of bed and out of my room.

I cautiously made my way into Faith and Mal's room. Faith was sitting on her bed, alone, so I assumed Mal was taking a bath or something.

"Hey, Faith?" I asked, walking in and closing the door behind me.

"Hi Scout." Faith said without turning around to look at me. She was just staring out the window into the pitch black night.

"What're you doing?" I asked, walking towards her.

She hesitated a moment. "Waiting for… Collin."

"What?" I asked, totally confused.

"He always comes around this time to see you." she explained.

"And you've seen him?"

"Sort of."

"What do you mean 'sort of', Faith?" All she was managing to do was make me very confused.

Faith let out a sigh. "I only see him out there as a wolf."

Faith knew? "A wolf?" I asked. "Faith, that's absurd."

Faith rolled her eyes at me. "He's a wolf from the legends and you know it, Scout. He protects you."

I sank down next to her. "How do you know all of this?"

"I've seen him change." She turned back towards the window. "It's pretty cool."

I stared at my sister, shocked. "So that's why you've been acting so strangely?"

Faith nodded. "I've just been listening and looking for him. I just… I like having something that no one else has. Something… I don't have to share." She stared at me. "Well, except with you. I don't mind sharing with you."

I smiled. "Well, I don't mind sharing things with you either."

Suddenly, Faith's eyes got really big. "There he is." she said, tugging on my arm. "It's Collin."

I looked out the window and could make out two tiny pinpricks of light in the distance. Collin's eyes. "Come on, Faith." I said, standing up.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"We're going to sneak out your window and go see Collin." I answered, opening her window. "I'll go first. It's a short way down."

"Are you sure?" Faith asked, warily.

"Positive." I answered, shimmying out the window. I dropped to the ground and looked up at Faith. "Coming?"

Faith sighed and climbed out of the window. "Are we going to get in trouble?" she asked once we started walking towards the woods.

"Good Lord I hope not." I answered, taking her hand as a precaution.

We walked along until we reached the edge of the woods. I could see Collin's outline in the dark. He was being perfectly still.

"Collin, it's Scout." I told him. "I figured out why Faith's been acting so weird. She knows."

Collin looked at me for a moment and then slowly walked towards me and Faith.

"Scout?" Faith asked, sounding a bit nervous.

"It's okay." I said, kneeling down in the grass. The ground was freezing cold. I started wishing for an early spring.

Faith knelt down next to me and reached out to touch Collin. When her hand made contact with his head, her face lit up. "Scout, this is so cool."

I gave a little chuckle. "Yeah, I guess."

So, faith and I stayed outside for fifteen minutes before I dragged her back into her room to keep the two of us out of trouble.

"Thanks, Scout." Faith said as I tucked her into bed.

"No problem, kid." I said, crossing to the other side of the room.

"Do you love him?" Faith asked, taking me by surprise.

"Well… I don't know, Faith." I admitted. "I like him a lot though."

"Why don't you know if you love him?"

"I don't know the answer to that either, Faith."

"Well, think about it and get back to me, okay?" she asked.

I was quiet for a moment. "Hey, Faith?" I finally asked. "Would you like to come to Seth Clearwater's birthday party with me?"

"Sure." she answered.

I smiled. "Well, good night then." I said, turning off the light.

"Night, Scout." my weird little sister replied.

Thursday was going to be a very interesting day. Very interesting indeed.


	30. Birthday Wishes

**Just to let you all know, my computer is fixed and I am back to writing fanfic. This is going to be a double update in celebration. Enjoy.**

"So, everyone at the party's a wolf?" Faith asked as we walked to Seth Clearwater's house on the day of the party.

"Mostly everyone." I replied.

"Do they know that I know?"

"Yeah." Boy did they. The second he found out, Sam hunted me down. He asked me if I knew what I was doing by bringing Faith to a party with a few unimprinted wolves.

I hadn't actually thought about that. I knew I'd be fine with it as long as Faith was. I didn't know what Mom or Dad would think if Embry or someone kept coming around the house asking to see Faith. I'd probably have to set up some rules.

Of course, there was always the possibility that no one would imprint on Faith. Her pull towards the wolves would make no sense though. She couldn't be a wolf. No one in my family ever had been.

Anyway, once Faith and I got to the Clearwater's house, we were pounced upon by the pack minus Collin and Seth.

"So, this is the little squirt who found out." Jared said, eyeing my little sister.

"Sure ya didn't say anything, Scout?" Brady asked suspiciously.

"Kid's not a blabber mouth, is she?" Paul asked. "We can hardly keep Clair quiet as it is."

"Paul, lay off." Quil growled.

"Guys, lemme through!" Embry roared over all of them. He tore through them, trying to get at me and Faith. Everyone went quiet.

"Embry?" I asked. This couldn't be happening.

"Shh, Scout." Embry muttered. "Get her to look at me."

I turned toward my little sister who was staring at the ground. She was nervous around so many loud mouthed wolves.

"Faith?" I asked, taking her small hand. "Embry wants to see something, okay? He needs you to look at him in the eyes. Can you do that?"

Faith nodded slowly and looked up at Embry. Their eyes were locked for a grand total of two seconds when Embry's face fell.

"Dang it!" he yelled. "Nothing."

Brady laughed. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you're so desperate that you're upset you haven't imprinted on a six year old?"

"I'm seven and a half!" Faith yelled.

"Brady, just shut your mouth before someone hurts you." Quil advised.

"Okay, okay." Sam said. "Back off a bit."

"You heard him, boys." Jacob agreed. "Give the little girl some space."

"I'm sorry, Embry." I whispered as he walked by us looking sad and dejected.

"It's all right." he whispered back. "Didn't think it was her anyway. Worth a try though."

I felt Faith tug on my arm so I bent down to her level. "Yeah?"

"Why was Embry so upset? Why'd he want me to look at him?"

I sighed. "Well, Embry thought you and him might be like me and Collin." I answered. "You remember when I explained that, right."

Faith nodded. "Will he ever find someone?"

"Yeah." I told her. "One day."

"Hey, you wildebeests!" Charlie Swann, Seth's step-father, shouted through an open window. "You can come in now!"

I held Faith back so that the two of us wouldn't be trampled in the wild stampede towards the door.

Once Faith and I made it inside safely, I was greeted with a hug from Collin.

"Hey." he said to me. He looked down at Faith. "Did those morons mess with you?"

"Brady said I was six."

Brady, who had the misfortune to walk by at that exact moment, was whacked in the head by Collin.

"Ow." he said. "What was that for?"

"She's seven and a half."

As Brady, rubbing his sore head, went somewhere else, Seth walked over to us, smiling happily. I couldn't tell if it was a genuine smile or if he was just faking for the sake of all his friends and family.

"Thanks a bunch for coming." Seth said, hugging me.

"You're welcome." I told him.

"So, you must be Faith." Seth crouched down when he caught sight of her.

"I'm not your Scout, am I?" Faith asked.

Seth frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You don't like me the way that Collin likes Scout, do you?"

"Oh." Seth said. He gave a huge sigh. "No, I don't. Sorry, kiddo."

"It's okay." Faith said, patting his shoulder. "I know you'll find her soon."

Seth smiled. "I know I will too."

The rest of the party was pretty much like any ordinary party. Well, except it was full of wolves who told stories about ripping vampires to shreds. Luckily, Sam made them keep it PG so Faith wouldn't be scared.

After the party, Collin walked Faith and I home. Faith went inside while Collin and I sat on the porch and talked for an hour before he had to leave.

When Collin left, I stumbled sleepily back to my room only to find Faith staring out of my bedroom window.

"Faith?" I asked, walking over towards her. "Why're you still up?"

"I'm wishing." Faith answered.

"About what?"

"If I tell you that, it won't come true, silly."

I sighed. "Can you tell me who the wish is for?"

"Seth, Brady, Embry, and Leah."

Ah. Faith was wishing they'd imprint so they'd stop being sad and, in Brady's case, annoying.

"I'll wish too." I said, looking out the window, up at the heavens.

"Star light, star bright." we said in unison. "First star we see tonight. We wish we may, we wish we might have the wish we wish tonight."


	31. It's Electric

Month after uneventful month passed by. Valentine's Day, Collin's birthday, Faith's birthday, and my parents' anniversary all passed quickly. It was now May and we were almost out of school.

Collin and I were sitting by ourselves on a cliff at First Beach. It was a bright, sunny day and we were just enjoying each other's company.

"Scout, I have a fun idea." Collin said, suddenly.

"What?" I asked.

"Okay, I was thinking we should have a campout in my backyard this weekend."

"Who is 'we' exactly?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Surely he didn't mean just the two of us. In one tent.

"Me, you, and your siblings." Collin said, grinning. "Two separate tents. Me and Mat in one and you, Mal, and Faith in another."

I leaned my hand on his shoulder. "Sure if your parents and my parents are cool with the idea then it sounds like a plan."

So, after much negotiating, Collin, Mat, Mal, Faith, and I were all sitting in lawn chairs in Collin's backyard eating microwave prepared smores and looking at the stars.

"Why can't we roast the marshmallows?" Mat asked, chowing down on his fourth smore.

"Dude." Collin said. "I can't build a fire in my backyard."

Mat groaned. "But it's just not the same."

"Look." I said, pointing at the sky, trying to distract everyone. "It's the Little Dipper and over there's the Big Dipper."

Collin, catching on, said, "Over there's Sirius."

"You mean like from Harry Potter?" Mal asked, frowning.

"Yeah." I answered. "The majority of the Black family are named for things in space. See, the constellation Sirius is a dog which is what Sirius Black turns into."

"And his cousin Andromeda is named for the Andromeda Galaxy." Collin picked up.

"So... okay." Mal began. "The Black family is named for stuff in space. Does anyone else's name mean anything?"

"Professor McGonagall's first name is Minerva." I said. "She's the Roman goddess of wisdom. Like Athena."

"Severus Snape sort of sounds like severe." Collin pointed out.

"Very good." I told him.

"Why, thank you." Collin said, kissing my cheek.

"Gross!" May yelled. "Eww!"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please Mat. It's not like he kissed me on the lips." We still hadn't actually gotten to that. I thought he would've tried on Valentine's Day but no. Nothing since the day we started going out.

"Dang!" Collin yelled. "It's eleven. Bedtime kiddies."

There was a lot of groaning from my siblings as they crawled into their tents. Collin and I bade each other a goodnight and crawled in after the munchkins.

Ten minutes later, Mal and Faith were both sound asleep. It was nice and quiet but I just couldn't go to sleep. My mind was too active.

"Scout?" I heard Collin whisper outside the tent. "You still awake?"

"Yeah." I answered quietly. "Why?"

"I... wanted you to come out here for a minute."

I sighed, trying to silently unzip the tent. I carefully crawled out, terrified that I'd wake up Mal and Faith if I wasn't quiet enough. They weren't very heavy sleepers.

"Well, I'm out." I announced, standing up. "Going to tell me why?"

Collin plopped down on the ground. "No special reason. I just wanted to talk to you was all. Alone. Without your siblings. Not that I don't like them but..."

I chuckled, sitting down next to him. "I know what you mean." I smiled at him. "So, what did you wanna talk about?"

Collin shrugged. "It's whatever you want."

Whatever I wanted, eh? I decided to take that as an invitation to move in close to him. My face was centimeters from his.

Collin grinned, catching on. He gently brushed my hair away from my face. "You're beautiful, Scout." he said and then he kissed me.

That kiss was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. It felt like I'd been struck by a thousand bolts of lightning all at the same exact time. Whoa baby.

When Collin broke the kiss, I looked at him for a minute. "Why was this the first time?" I asked. "Why didn't you do that months ago?"

"I knew you'd let me know when you were ready." Collin explained. "I was just waiting for you."

"Well, aren't you sweet?"

Collin grinned. "We should get back to sleep."

I took a deep breath. There was something I had to say. That kiss made me realize something.

"Scout?"

"I... love you, Collin."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I love you too, Scout." Collin moved in again. We were like two magnets just being pulled together by some invisible force. Closer and closer until our lips touched again.

It was sheer bliss.


	32. Lots Of Exciting News

It was before dinner one very stormy night, when I received a very frantic phone call from Collin.

"Hold on." I told him. "Slow down. I can't understand a word that you're saying right now. Run that by me again."

Collin took a deep breath and began again. "Jacob just called me. Seth imprinted."

My eyes went wide. "Seth did what now?" Could it really be true? Could he have finally got the thing he wanted most, the thing he deserved more than anyone?

"He imprinted!" Collin yelled with glee. "He can go back to being his old happy self again. This is great! Best new is the world!"

"Who is she?" I asked. This was so exciting. "What's she like? When do I get to meet her?"

"Her name's Erin Morgan." Collin began. "She's lived in Forks for only a year. She's from Astoria, Oregon. She's an artist, she's nice, and she's got absolutely no friends."

"Well, we'll soon fix that." I said, grinning my face off. "So, when do I get to meet her." I knew I had already asked that, but it was never answered. Collin was just too excited for his best friend.

"No idea." he replied. "Look though, I gotta go out on patrol sadly enough. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay." I said, a tiny bit sad that he had to go. Well, maybe more than a tiny bit. "Tell Seth I said congratulations."

"I will." he promised. "Night."

"Good night." I said, hanging up the phone. I sat it down and then began to dance around my room with glee.

"Yes!" I shouted, jumping up and down. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Faith ran into my room. "What?" she asked, staring at me. "What? What's going on? What happened?"

I ran over to her, picked her up, and spun her around. "Seth imprinted!" I cheered.

"Yes!" Faith shouted. "This is the best news ever!"

I put Faith back on the ground and we just jumped around. We were both so excited and giddy.

"What's all the ruckus?" Dad asked, poking his head into my room suddenly.

Faith and I immediately stopped jumping up and down and simultaneously said, "Nothing."

Dad frowned. "Uh huh… Well, come on. It's dinner time." He left us, heading straight for the kitchen.

"What's her name?" Faith asked me, picking up the phone so she could place it back on the charger later.

"Erin Morgan." I answered. "But, come on. We better eat."

We hadn't even made it halfway through dinner when the phone rang. Mom got up to get it and returned moments later.

"Seth Clearwater for you dear." she said, handing me the phone.

I took it and answered. "Hello."

"Hey, Scout." Seth said. He sounded super happy. "I know Collin already told you, but I had to talk to you myself."

I chuckled. "I'm really happy."

"She's just amazing." he gushed. "I think you guys will be great friends."

"I hope so." I said. "Have you told her yet?"

"No, but I will tomorrow. I'll let you get back to dinner though. I'll talk to you later, all right?"

"Okay, bye." I hung up the phone and set it down on the table.

"Well, what was that all about?" Dad asked me.

"Oh, nothing." I answered.

Mat frowned. "You and Collin and Seth and them always act so weird."

"Yeah." Mal agreed. "You're always whispering and they always go running off somewhere."

"Don't say it's a teenager thing." Mat said. "I'm thirteen. I don't do any of that weird stuff."

"Ugh." I groaned. "What business is it of yours?"

"It's strange." Mal said.

"Okay, okay." Mom said. "That is enough. Mal, Mat, leave Scout alone. She's right. What she and her friends do is none of your concern."

"That's right." Dad agreed.

"But, speaking of Scout's friends, we've all been invited to Karen's wedding next week." Mom announced. "Scout, you're allowed to bring Collin if you like."

Karen's wedding? Oh no. I'd have to see Harm. This would not end well at all. Especially if I brought Collin. I didn't see any way out of it though,

"Okay." I said, faking a smile. "I'll tell him later."

I ate the rest of my dinner, feeling queasy. This was going to be oodles and oodles of fun. Not.


End file.
